Sheep and Cattle Producers Unite
June 10, 2005
June 10, 2005 -- In a united effort, the American Sheep Industry Association (ASI), the Public Lands Council (PLC) and the National Cattlemen?s Beef Association (NCBA), along with 15 state sheep associations, requested support from U.S. Senator Robert Bennett (R-Utah) for an additional $9 million to be appropriated for western-states livestock protection programs.
?One of the key programs for a healthy sheep and cattle industry in America is the livestock protection program of the U.S. Department of Agriculture?s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service?s (APHIS) Wildlife Service (WS),? stated the correspondence to the chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development and Related Agencies.
The value of livestock lost to predators and predator control costs are the major expenses of livestock production. More than 250,000 sheep and nearly 150,000 cattle are lost to predators each year. The WS livestock protection program is vital to the economic survival of the livestock industry.
Without additional federal funding to support existing western livestock protection programs, predation management expertise will be lost and livestock grazing in some areas will be jeopardized.
?This joint request between the sheep producers and the cattlemen shows a truly unified effort to increase support of the livestock protection services provided by the agency,? stated Paul Frischknecht, ASI president.
Staff contact: Peter Orwick, ext. 33
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