Senator Inhofe briefs on meat and agriculture industries in the Panhandle
GUYMON – Senator Jim Inhofe flew into Guymon on Wednesday, Oct. 14, to give a brief rundown on recent White House happenings that will affect the country’s meat producers and farmers, including those in the Oklahoma Panhandle.
One of the most important topics Inhofe discussed was the Taiwan Free Trade Agreement, which will benefit U.S. Meat producers. For over a decade, Taiwan has banned imports of U.S. cattle and hogs—however, according to Inhofe, Taiwan lifted its ban on U.S. beef and pork imports last month, and there are now talks of free trade. “...this will be a huge thing for not just the Panhandle... but all of northern Oklahoma because this allows them to... have a huge market for pork and beef,” Inhofe explained.
The pork industry, specifically, has taken a nearly $5 billion loss from the COVID-19 pandemic. Inhofe explained that plants were operating at reduced capacity, and there was potential for thousands of market-ready hogs to be euthanized due to a lack of demand in the market.
In May, the senator spoke with the Oklahoma Pork Council to form a coalition of members from the top 10 pork-producing states, and this coalition has been active in the formation of free trade with Taiwan, as well as developing plans to relieve pork producers from the negative effects of the pandemic.
To ease some of the burden on American pork producers, Inhofe sponsored and introduced the RELIEF for Producers Act in July. If passed, the bill will reimburse pork producers for euthanized hogs; al
locate $300 million for vaccine development to prevent foreign disease spread in swine herds; and give the Secretary of the Department of Agriculture authority over the removal and disposal of livestock for any public health emergency. The act has been cosponsored by several members of the aforementioned pork coalition.
Switching gears, Inhofe spoke about an important achievement of his that will benefit farmers—as chair of the Environment and Public Works Committee, he helped remove the American Burying Beetle from the Endangered Species List earlier this month. “This is something that means so much out here, and yet nobody knows it.” When the beetle was considered an endangered species, Inhofe explained, farmers were prohibited from planting crops on any land in the “suspected area” of a burying beetle’s habitat. Now that the species is only considered threatened, no restrictions are enforced on land which may house burying beetles. The senator also mentioned that, along with interfering with crop growing, the previous restrictions hindered road building and the placement of military equipment.
Veering into a discussion about the current presidency, Inhofe spoke about some of progress he’s witnessed during the country’s almost four years under the Trump Administration.
Prior to the pandemic, “[the United States] had the best economy of our lives,” Inhofe claimed. He cited a 2.8 percent unemployment rate, energy dominance in the oil and gas industries, and increased military spending as some of the key contributors to the pre-pandemic state of the economy. “...Those are the things that directly affect, in a positive way,... you folks out in this area,” he commented.
Inhofe, who is chair of the Senate Committee on Armed Services, also mentioned that both the House and the Senate have passed his National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which he called the “largest bill of the year.”
He added, “If you stop and think about it, where would we be today if we didn’t start this pandemic with the best economy we’ve ever had?”
Senator Jim Inhofe (R) has served as the senior United States Senator from Oklahoma since 1994. To read more about his work in the White House, visit inhofe.senate.gov.