COVID aid package details

https://www.dtnpf.com/agriculture/web/ag/news/world-policy/article/2020/12/21/new-round-crop-livestock-aid-deal-2?fbclid=IwAR3d6aIzUEQM3oX-KUP800YZI2EhVpGAWtloVNd-4XhQxpMchth-QJQlGGI

• On Sunday, Congress reached a deal to pass a $900 billion spending bill that will include $5 billion for crop producers, $3 billion for livestock and poultry producers and $225 million for specialty-crop growers who lost their crops in 2019.
  • Additionally, the bill will compensate livestock and poultry producers who were forced to euthanize animals because of the pandemic.
• The bill will provide $28 million in block grants to states to help farmer and rancher stress management due to the virus.
• American families will receive $600/person from this bill.
  • To qualify for these checks, married couples must make less than $150,000.
• Small meat and poultry processors will also receive assistance, as $60 million in grants will be available to make improvements to help processors meet federal food safety inspection standards.
• The aid package will include $75 million to help underserved farmers and ranchers through the Farming Opportunities Training Outreach program.
  • It will also provide support for minority, veteran, tribal and beginning farmers to access disaster programs.
• President-elect Joe Biden said that he is happy to see Congress working together on this aid package, but he wants everyone to know that once he takes office there will even be more help on the way.

NCBA secures critical wins for cattle producer in government funding and COVID relief deal and urges swift passage in both chambers

https://www.ncba.org/newsreleases.aspx?NewsID=7402

• According to NCBA, the organization secured vital wins for cattle producers in the latest government funding and COVID-19 relief packages.
• NCBA Vice President of Government Affairs, Ethan Lane, stated that this package encompasses many of NCBA’s yearlong policy priorities and their efforts to respond to multiple market shocks that producers have dealt with over the last year.
• Lane also said that the additional cattle assistance through CFAP, agricultural quarantine inspection services and the extension of LMR through September 30^th, 2021, has provided ranchers and farmers a tremendous amount of continuity and certainty going forward.

Methane emissions reduced by novel feed ingredient

https://www.bovinevetonline.com/news/industry/methane-emissions-reduced-novel-feed-ingredient

• A two-year beef cattle trial in Alberta, Canada has proven that a novel feed ingredient can be included in commercial feedlot diets to reduce methane emissions by up to 80 percent.
• Royal DSM, a global science-based company active in health, nutrition and sustainable living, produced the ingredient, scientifically called 3-NOP.
• This trial is the largest and longest trial for methane reduction in beef to date with 15,000 head of cattle.
  • Just with this trial, Greenhouse Gas emissions have been reduced by 1,473 metric tons, which is comparable to taking 500 cars off the road for one year.
• According to Royal DSM, when the ingredient is fed, enteric methane formation in ruminants decreases by over 30 percent on average.
  • Additionally, this ingredient does not have a negative impact on animal health, performance or carcass characteristics.
• Research has proven that the ingredient has real, permanent and quantifiable reductions of methane emissions not only across Alberta’s beef and dairy sector, but also in feedlots around the world.

Nebraska Cattle Group’s top issues include property taxes and brands

https://wnax.com/news/180081-nebraska-cattle-groups-top-issues-include-property-taxes-and-brands/

• During Nebraska Cattlemen’s recent virtual convention, the organization decided that heading into 2021 they would focus on reducing property taxes and modernizing the state brand rule.
• According to the organization’s new president, Bill Rhea, Nebraska Cattlemen has members working on NCBA’s working task force analyzing the current cattle market situation.
  • These members are working on price discovery and they are just finishing up their work, stated Rhea.
    • NC would like any measure regarding price discovery to be voluntary instead of government mandated.
  • Bill Rhea believes that beef marketing will be tough for the first sixty to ninety days of the new year, but NC filed their letters with the DOJ a year ago and they continue to look at stuff and hope the markets are fair for everybody.

Boxed beef prices

www.nationalbeefwire.com

• Choice boxed beef: $210.92 (+2.29)
• Select boxed beef: $197.26 (+2.99)