NCBA Slams Antiquities Act Use and Report on ag Carbon Programs

**The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association slammed President Biden’s use of the Antiquities Act to put sweeping federal designations on over a million additional acres of Arizona land.

NCBA President Todd Wilkinson says, they strongly oppose continued abuse of the Antiquities Act, and urge the President to listen to the communities hurt by this designation.

He says it “adds insult to injury” for unheard communities intentionally removed from land management conversations.

**American Farmland Trust and Sierra View Solutions released a report on Agricultural carbon programs.

The report analyzes 22 agricultural carbon markets and recommends changes to help the programs succeed.

Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack says, one of the reasons farmers aren’t enrolling in ag carbon programs is that the payments are too low.

And, Vilsack says the programs don’t adequately define what a “new practice” is and set arbitrary caps on participation.

**U.S. pork exports concluded an excellent first half of the year with another strong performance in June that hit almost 246,000 metric tons, 12% higher than 2022.

Export VALUE rose 6%.

Through the first half of 2023, exports were 14% above last year’s pace at 1.47 million metric tons.

USMEF president, Dan Halstrom says, while Mexico is the pacesetter for U.S. pork exports, the industry is also achieving broad-based growth internationally.