Fighting for rural Colorado and agriculture

https://www.tsln.com/news/showing-up-fighting-for-rural-colorado-and-agriculture/

• Governor Polis of Colorado recently appointed a woman who identifies herself as a vegan activist to the State Board of Veterinary Medicine.
  • The appointee, Ellen Kessler, posted on her personal social media account that, “4-H clubs teach children that animal lives don’t matter.”
• Kessler will be asked to guide and enforce professional standards for veterinary practitioners. She will also have various other responsibilities that will directly impact those involved with agriculture in Colorado.
• A letter has been made available that will be sent to Governor Polis, the Office of the State Auditor, and members of the Senate and House committees on agriculture requesting that Kessler’s appointment to such a post be retracted prior to her confirmation hearing during the upcoming legislative session.
• https://www.change.org/ShowingUpFP
• Whether it be forced wolf reintroduction, thinly veiled anti-agriculture agendas stemming from the Governor’s office, or just a disregard for and comfortable detachment from those in agriculture, now is the time to stand up for rural Colorado and the state’s multi-billion dollar agriculture industry.

Senator Michael Bennet wants USDA to investigate coronavirus spread at JBS plant

https://denver.cbslocal.com/2020/08/11/coronavirus-michael-bennet-usda-jbs-plant-greeley/

• Democratic Senator Michael Bennet wants the Agriculture and Labor Departments to investigate the spread of coronavirus in the JBS meat packing plant in Greeley and other processing facilities.
  • JBS’ processing plant in Greeley experienced an outbreak of 300 workers coming down with the virus and 6 dying.
• Bennet specifically wants to know if the use of the Defense Production Act affected agriculture facilities.
• The employees union at JBS is also asking for an investigation into the deaths. The union is also asking Republican Senator Cory Gardner about testing that was promised, but never delivered.

Boxed beef prices and import/export numbers

www.nationalbeefwire.com

• Choice boxed beef: $209.09 (+1.01)
• Select boxed beef: $195.99 (+0.97)
• S. cattle imports are down 1% from 2019 with 1.1 million head of cattle being imported so far this year.
• S. cattle exports are up 8% from 2019 with 120,000 cattle exported in 2020.