Call meeting to order: 9:10 am Catherine, Tracy, Theresa, Amy, Jill, Kayla, Terry F,
Approval of the agenda: Addition of speaker Terry Fankhauser . M: Amy: S; Tracy
Guest Speaker: Terry Fankhauser, CCA (see discussion summary below)
Secretary
Approval of minutes: M: Theresa, S: Amy
Correspondences: Letter from Catch Calf – Leah Shirley 24 Nov 2020 (will attach with minutes)
Treasurer
Approval of Treasures Report: M: Amy, S: Tracy
++ need to show the deposit of Leon Krane membership
Paid the USPO box for the next year
Paid Tom Rautenkranz for the Catch Calf
Membership dues are due by the end of February 2021
Committee Reports:
Scholarship Committee: No new news to report. Reviewing essay question and discuss how to retain family and kids to work in the ranch/farm industry. Discussion to be had on online classes as well as trade school classes.
Federal Lands:
Forest Service: No new news to report
BLM: No new news to report
State Lands: CCA has asked for lease relief for COVID and drought but no news yet on what we might be able to get
Legislative: Discussed by speaker
HPP : No new news to report
Old Business:
Transfer of website administration to Amy M. & Tracy R., f/u with Deb R.
Goal to have complete before June meeting. More to Tracy than Amy due to commissionership.
New Business:
Membership drive, reaching out to local ranches, businesses and legislative partners for memberships, Fundraising, ideas for Covid friendly fundraising welcome, more Facebook usage for social and educational events, consider adding a donation button, more communication friendly access.
Discussion Items:
Prop 114 (wolves) results with Terry Fankhauser from CCA
2021 Catch Calf Sponsor Needed: Ask Walt at Lazy Bull Ranch.
Next Meeting: February 20, 2021
Meeting adjourned: 10:32
CCA Fall Updates and Discussion with Terry
Prop 114- Grey Wolf Reintroduction
-the bill passed by an incredibly thin margin driven by voters in Denver, Boulder and Larimer counties
-President Trump is expected to federally delist the Grey Wolf as an endangered species sometime in the first quarter of 2021. This delisting sends the authority to individual states to determine the protected status of the species and any reintroduction activity however if grey wolves remain or return to Federally Listed then the federal government gets the final say in any species reintroduction. This possible delisting could be reversed by the incoming administration. At this point the Federal government still has the authority to block Colorado from reintroducing Grey Wolves despite the reintroduction now being state law.
-There will be legislation efforts to try to block and slow down the reintroduction efforts however supporters of reintroduction and other academic groups are now trying to rush reintroduction efforts. Rushing reintroduction would be bad for Colorado and cattlemen. The new state administration is not yet responsive to CCA’s efforts and Governor Polis has asked DOW for a 180 reintroduction plan meaning that as of right now wolves could be in Colorado any time between 180 days and Dec 31, 2023.
-CCA is actively trying to block the rushed legislation and will take legal action against the state if necessary in order to help slow reintroduction for a more thoughtful, prepared and researched plan. Any additional support that members could provide in convincing the administration not to allow this process to be expedited is appreciated.
-Please report any and all wolf sightings to DOW with photos (we can help with information how to report)- any species. Theresa and Amy have both recently seen what might be a Mexican Red Wolf.
Beef and Cattle Market Conditions
-We still need to complete the justice department’s anti-trust investigation and keep pushing them to look into price fixing
-An extension of the Packers Act with some more regulation may be the outcome although pros and cons to additional regulation are being weighed.
-Cash Trade aka Price Discovery
This would add transparency to how bids and prices are determined
This process currently exists only for low quality cattle so it would need work to be more widely applicable for producers in various places and with different product
Price Discovery triggers mandatory price reporting and it exists outside of Colorado but since we only have 2 major packers it has not yet been adapted by out packers. Adoption of this would offer only a few months for packers to comply with the triggered price reporting and if they do not comply, legislatively we could follow a utilities commission style processes to correct price fixing
-Colorado needs: better oversights for packers and stock yards, LMR and Price Reporting needs to be expanded (policy is currently on its way to congress, packers need to comply with Price Discovery and triggering, last resort will be more legislation in order to achieve these things
-There are 4 major packers in the US but a 5th is expected to open soon
-As an industry we cannot continue to tolerate price declines or let this issue go – when demand skyrockets prices should adjust also and not continue to be suppressed
-Growth of smaller regional plants/packers may help (~100-1000 head per day capacity)