Op-Ed: Common Ground Summit Seeks to Unite Livestock Industry | By: Joe Goggins, Billings, MT

I really feel the need to inform you all about the “Common Ground Summit” meeting that was held in Denver, Colorado, on April 21-23. In my opinion, this meeting was nothing short of historic for the beef industry. It was – without question – the most memorable and impactful experience I’ve ever had the opportunity to be a part of!

Forty stakeholders, from all across the United States, from diverse backgrounds, operations, and organizational affiliations, attended. Many people have asked how these attendees were invited to the inaugural Common Ground Summit, which was organized by the Livestock Marketing Association (LMA).

LMA’s leadership identified and recommended livestock industry leaders and peers, while also inviting other industry stakeholders to suggest additional attendees. The aim was to ensure a manageable number of participants to facilitate effective communication while achieving broad representation from across the livestock industry.

All attendees mentioned how humbled and grateful they were for being asked to be part of the event.

The Common Ground Summit meeting marked a historic step forward in a multi-year effort to strengthen and unify the livestock industry. Many folks have asked how the Common Ground Summit meeting came to fruition. Really, it started four years ago with the industry meeting held in Phoenix in May of 2021. In that meeting, 24 people – four members from each of the six allied industry groups – met to find common ground on key issues concerning the livestock industry at that time, mainly cattle marketing issues.

This was a once in a lifetime meeting! Never before had all the industry groups ever been represented in one room. If the Phoenix meeting four years ago taught all of us anything, it was that, no matter what allied industry group we as producers are aligned with, we agree on far more issues concerning livestock production agriculture than we disagree on!

There have been several attempts in the last four years to reignite a Phoenix-type meeting. I’m sorry and frustrated to say that, in my opinion, I don’t think we will ever convince all six allied industry groups to all get in a room together again for a whole gamut of reasons that I’m not going to delve into at this time.

We, as livestock auction market owners (LMA), believe from the bottom of our hearts that the livestock industry here in the U.S. must unify and find some common ground around some ideas, and solutions, that will create opportunities that encourage producers to leave their land in food production for future generations, while strengthening and expanding the livestock producers who rely on it to feed the world.

I firmly believe that we as a country, and an industry, must find some solutions that address this problem for the greater good of this industry and, for that matter, this country.

It is imperative that we preserve this nation’s food independence. Our number one bargaining chip when it comes to world trade is not our technology, it’s not our energy, it is our food. This is a matter of national security.

In my opinion, if this country loses its food independence, we are no longer a superpower!

All of this being said, the LMA and many state cattlemen groups worked together and started the Producer Profitability Initiative Campaign, which led to many producer focus group meetings across America this last year. The purpose of these meetings was to get real input from livestock producers at the grassroots level, folks that have boots on the ground and real skin in the game.

There were a few game rules at these meetings, however, one being they weren’t going to talk about things that we know we as an industry can’t find common ground on. I’m not saying these issues aren’t important, and that they shouldn’t be debated. But we felt like, for the greater good of this industry, that these meetings needed to be a time to talk about, and try and identify, what we all have in common as an industry.

In this time, we heard from nearly 5,000 producers who shared their ideas of what would constitute meaningful change for themselves and their families.

At the conclusion of the Producer Profitability Campaign, a group of industry stakeholders got together with LMA and created the concept of the Common Ground Summit Meeting in Denver. It was agreed upon that we would invite a diverse group of people, as I mentioned previously, who would come to the table and represent all aspects of livestock agriculture.

The inaugural Common Ground Summit hosted 27 cow/calf and stocker operators, eight feeders and packers, and five individuals ranging from economists to livestock marketing and industry organizations. These folks all agreed to come as individuals and represent themselves and their families.

All attendees agreed to the vision of the Common Ground Summit meeting: “To unite the livestock industry in preserving America’s agricultural land for future generations, while strengthening and expanding the livestock producers who rely on it to feed the world.”

All attendees of the Common Ground Summit also agreed on the mission of the meeting: “To unify the livestock industry by clearly defending its needs, aligning stakeholders, and effectively communication with policy makers and the public. Through strategic advocacy and collaboration, we seek to establish a clear path forward toward meaningful policy and industry advancements that support livestock producers and ensure the future of agriculture.”

I hope this brings some clarity to the “how” and the “why” behind the creation of the Common Ground Summit. It was a true honor to be asked to attend this meeting. From the very first moment we all gathered, you could feel the magic start to work.

I really thought ahead of the meeting we might find one or two things we would all agree upon as a group. We blew through these expectations, as we found five, key priorities and actionable solutions:

1. Achieve and maintain ag-friendly tax policy;
2. Make risk management tools more effective;
3. Improve access to labor;
4. Increase flexibility for livestock haulers; and
5. Create support for young and emerging livestock producers.

Our call to action is simply this: the attendees went to this gathering not only for themselves and their families, but they went there to fight for you, the American grassroots producer. We invite you all to go to the http://www.commongroundsummit.net website and read over the key priorities in greater depth.

If you like what you see, please sign on and commit to these five, key priorities alongside the 40 attendees.

I truly believe that if we, as an industry, come together, tell all of our neighbors, friends, family, and whomever else we network with to sign onto this Common Ground Coalition, we can create meaningful change for generations to come in production agriculture.

In closing, the beef industry has been forced to play defense for over 70 years, and I don’t know if another industry in America is better at playing defense than us. But this industry needs a WIN! It is high time that we play some offense as an industry and get ourselves a win.

Could you imagine if we all came together and had literally thousands of people sign onto this Common Ground Coalition? I don’t know how the policy makers in D.C. could say “no” to our requests. We, as an industry, must prove to the policy makers in D.C. that agriculture is NOT optional.

Losing our food independence in this country in NOT optional.

This Common Ground Summit was held for you, the grassroots producers of America. Let’s rally, play some offense, and get some wins.

LEARN MORE: www.commongroundsummit.net