Nebraska Cattlemen welcome the news that Congress included key policy provisions affecting agriculture in the omnibus spending bill, which funds the government for the remainder of the 2018 fiscal year.
     Electronic Logging Devices: Livestock haulers are now exempted from ELD compliance through September 30, 2018 when the next government fiscal year begins.
    Previously, livestock haulers had to meet a June 18, 2018 compliance date. This victory is extremely significant, buying Nebraska Cattlemen members crucial time to continue pressing and finalizing our overall fix to federal hours-of-service regulations.
    Hours-of-service must be made more flexible to account for unique issues inherent to livestock hauling.
    Air Emissions Reporting: Senator Deb Fischer’s Fair Agricultural Reporting Method (FARM) Act was included in the bill.
    This legislation ensures that agricultural operations will not have to comply with federal air emissions reporting requirements.
    This fix was urgently needed as a recent D.C. Circuit Court decision would have forced producers to report emissions of animal waste beginning on May 1, 2018. Regulating the livestock industry in the same manner as toxic waste dumps defies common sense and provides ZERO public health benefit.

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