The Missouri Cattlemen’s Association held its annual meeting Jan. 5, 6 and 7 in Columbia, Missouri, and selected Boone County cattleman Greg Buckman as its new president.
The association also voiced concerns over tactics by the Humane Society of the United States.
Buckman has been an MCA member for 40 years and has served on a number of committees. He was a leader in the Boone County cattlemen’s organization and was an MCA regional vice president.
Buckman has been involved in the cattle business all of his life. He grew up on a dairy farm that was dispersed when his father retired. Buckman started his own beef herd in 1979.
“My agenda this year is to promote the healthy product we produce to our consumers,” Buckman said. “I want to make sure they understand what we go through to produce the best, safest and tastiest meal they can have when they eat a beef product.”
Buckman also would like to work on increasing MCA membership. He would like 2018 to be the year it goes over 5,000 members.
At the annual convention current MCA members voiced their support for legislation that has been introduced by Missouri Sen. Brian Munzlinger. Mike Deering, MCA executive vice president, said there is a situation now in the state of Missouri where the Humane Society of the United States is actively training law enforcement officials on how to identify animal abuse and neglect.
“This is not the right answer considering this extremist organization wants to put farmers and ranchers out of business,” Deering said. “This new legislation would simply require that all training and all materials used for this training are certified by the state veterinarian.”
This legislation has been introduced as Senate Bill 797.
Another piece of legislation that MCA has been working on for the last two years is the animal confiscation bill. Right now under current law if a person is charged with animal abuse and neglect and he or she is found innocent they still have to pay fees to get their animals back.
“This legislation would make sure that if you are innocent you don’t pay one red cent but if you are guilty so be it,” Deering said.
MCA members also discussed the issue of imitation or laboratory grown meat. One of the top three meat-packing companies in the country has invested in this technology.
“This is very concerning particularly when some of these products are labeled as beef,” Deering said. “This misleads consumers.”
MCA members will be taking this issue to the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association annual meeting later this month.
Doug Rich can be reached at 785-749-5304 or [email protected].
