(WASHINGTON D.C.) — As our team spent time this week on Capitol Hill, the debate over the Farm Bill in the House was a major talking point amongst attendees of the National Association of Farm Broadcasting Washington Watch event. However, we also had a chance to discuss two animal health issues dominating the agenda for cattle producers. Sigrid Johannes, Executive Director, Government Affairs with the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, joined us for a wide-ranging conversation on the issues dominating the agenda for cattle producers.
The Farm Bill: Still in Limbo
The farm bill conversation opened, as it has for months, with a familiar word: limbo. With roughly 200 amendments filed and more than 1,600 pages of accompanying report language before the rules committee, a floor vote remained elusive at the time of our conversation on Monday afternoon.
“Floor time in both the House and Senate is the most precious commodity in DC right now,” Johannes said. Competition from FISA reauthorization, reconciliation packages, and other priorities has forced the farm bill to “fight for its spot on the tarmac.”
That said, Johannes expressed genuine optimism about the underlying legislation, which cleared the House Agriculture Committee with bipartisan support. Her primary concern centered on a wave of animal activist-motivated amendments targeting Prop 12 language that cattlemen worked hard to include in the bill. “It sends a really clear message back to cattle country that they care more about ballot proposition voters in California than they do the producers in their own district,” according to Johannes.
A coalition letter led by the NPPC — ultimately signed by roughly 50 cattle groups at the state and county level — went to House leadership making the case against stripping that language. Johannes urged producers to check the voting record after the bill moves and hold their members accountable.
Asian Longhorned Tick: A Growing Threat with No Treatment
One animal health issue for the cattle industry that is a growing concern is focused on the Asian Longhorned tick. Since arriving in the United States in 2017, the pest has spread rapidly across the East Coast and Southeast, and is now creeping into the eastern edges of Kansas, Nebraska, and Missouri.
The tick is dangerous on multiple fronts, Johannes explained. It reproduces asexually, spreads fast, and is small enough to be easily missed on livestock. On its own, it can drain blood from smaller animals quickly. But the more alarming problem is the disease it carries.
What producers need to know about Asian longhorned tick
- Carries Theileria orientalis Ikeda — a disease cattle carry for life once infected
- No cure and currently no approved treatment for the U.S. genotype
- Can cause anemia, abortions, and in some cases death
- Easily mistaken for anaplasmosis — producers may not realize they have it
- Now present in eastern Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri, and much of the Southeast
- Report suspected cases to your veterinarian
“Once an animal has it, they have it for life. We cannot cure it and currently we can’t even treat it because we don’t have a drug that treats the specific genotype that we have here in the United States,” Johannes said. The disease can also be mistaken for anaplasmosis, meaning producers may be dealing with it without knowing.
NCBA is pushing for federal funding to reinvigorate the national surveillance network — restoring data sharing between federal, state, and land-grant partners and giving producers a clear place to report cases. The goal is to build a robust enough dataset that pharmaceutical companies can begin working toward a treatment within the next few years.
New World Screwworm: Racing Against the Clock
On New World Screwworm, Johannes struck a tone that balanced real concern with hard-won optimism. The closest confirmed case at the time of the conversation sat approximately 62 miles south of the U.S. border in Nuevo León, Mexico. That proximity is not lost on anyone in cattle country.
“Our national efforts to fight this thing are stronger today than they were a year ago, and we’re just racing against the clock — that’s what it comes down to,” she said.
On the sterile insect production front, progress is being made. A facility in Metapa, Chiapas is expected to come online this summer, adding to the 115 million sterile flies currently produced weekly through the COPEG facility. USDA recently broke ground on the production phase of a major new facility in South Texas. Treatment options have also expanded, a development Johannes credited to fast-moving work at FDA.
“Don’t be afraid to call it in. They’re not going to come shut down your place — they’re not going to punish you. This is just about having the right information so we can control it,” according to Johannes.
For producers in the southern plains and border states, Johannes offered practical steps to take now:
Producer action steps for New World Screwworm preparedness
- Register a premises ID — required to move cattle out of an infested zone if a U.S. case is confirmed
- Know what it looks like — visit screwworm.gov or NCBA’s website to familiarize yourself with identification
- If you suspect a case — put on gloves, scrape maggots into a tube with rubbing alcohol, and call your veterinarian immediately; screwworm is a reportable disease by law
- Don’t hesitate to report — USDA’s response focuses on containment and continuity of business, not punishment
Johannes emphasized that NCBA has worked closely with USDA over recent months to build a response playbook that keeps operations running while still acting aggressively against the disease. Producers in at-risk areas should get their information from reliable sources and be ready to act.
***AUDIO*** Hear the full conversation with Sigrid Johannes from NCBA below:
