Becoming Better Informed with Ag Policy_Ashley Kohls

 Shaye Koester (00:00):

Hey, Hey, it's Shaye Koester and I'm your host for Casual Cattle Conversations, where we talk about all things related to ranching, through sharing the stories and practices of different ranchers and their operations.

Shaye Koester (00:18):

Alrighty, folks, welcome back and thanks for tuning in for another one. I hope your summer is going well and you're working through whatever weather challenges you have. I know at the time of recording this, a lot of people are pretty dry and my prayers go out to you and I just hope you are making the most of the situation you're in. But with that, today we are going to talk about becoming better informed with ag policy as ranchers. I brought on Ashley Kohls with Nebraska Cattlemen's to speak on this. Now, she offers a lot of insight. It's a great conversation, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Before we get on with that topic, let's talk about what else I've got going on. So I have live events on every other Monday. So the is opposite Monday of when I post episodes, I will have a live event, either recapping the episode or talking about another topic, where we can converse with each other, and you can converse with other fans. When do I post episodes? The episode schedule is to post new episodes every other Monday.

Shaye Koester (01:23):

Make sure you go follow my social media, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook. Give me a like. Give me a follow. Go comment on an episode or a pos and let me know what you think and what you want to hear. Give me that five-star rating or any whatever rating, I guess you think I deserve on whatever platform you're listening on. If you would like to become a greater part of this podcast, please go to my website, casualcattleconversations.podbean.com and I will include that in the notes, but become a patron. At the top of the page, there'll be an option that says "patron" and help support this. in return, you'll get some merchandise, maybe a meeting with me, or a shout-out on social media. I'll give back and also if your company is interested in, uh, doing a little advertising, um, shoot me an email or direct message and we'll see how we can work together. But with that, let's get on with the episode.

Shaye Koester (02:24):

So just to get started, what is your background in the cattle industry?

Ashley Kohls (02:29):

So I've been involved in agriculture my entire life. I grew up on a farm in Northwest Iowa, Sioux CenterIowa, where we had some feeder cattle, but then also pigs because, well it's Iowa. Then, we eventually moved to town and I actually then started milking cows for what was our neighbor at that point. So I have a good mix of swine, beef and dairy in my background and continued to work on the farm all the way through high school. I went to South Dakota State University and majored in animal science and food safety, and, uh, went to grad school at the University of Minnesota. My family still has cattle. Um, so we have some mama cows and a feedlot.

Shaye Koester (03:14):

So where are you working today?

Ashley Kohls (03:15):

So currently I work for Nebraska Cattlemen. I'm the vice president of government affairs and I've been there for about a year and a half and I work out of the Lincoln office.

Shaye Koester (03:26):

What type of work do you do? Like, what does your job entail with Nebraska Cattlemen's?

Ashley Kohls (03:30):

That's a great question. So everybody who works at Nebraska Cattlemen, um, the heart and soul of what we do every day is focused on membership. Uh, but then each of our jobs is specified after that because Nebraska Cattlemen's is a membership organization. So I spend most of my time, uh, working at the Nebraska unicameral at Lincoln. Uh, but I also work pretty closely with the federal delegation in Washington DC. Uh, so it kind of depends on the time of year. So right now, uh, the Nebraska legislative session is currently in session. Uh, they have about 20 days left in the hundred and seventh, uh, legislative session in Lincoln.

Ashley Kohls (04:05):

During the summer and the fall, I do tend to focus more on federal policy, but during the state legislative session, I would say 95% of my time is focused at the unicameral. Absolutely. So you're very busy. Now. I know you were busy when our Block and Bridle club was there a few weeks ago in April, but how closely do you get to communicate with ranchers about ag policy or Nebraska Cattlemen's in general? Yeah, so I talk to farmers and ranchers every single day. Uh, every single thing that I do and say, whether it be at the unicameral or with our federal delegation is a hundred percent grassroots developed policy. So the Nebraska Cattlemen's policy book is a direct reflection of the, uh, wishes or desires of the Nebraska Cattlemen members. And so, if there's a bill that comes up or there's a hearing or there are conversations happening on the floor, um, I, you know, first reference back to that, uh, but if I need examples or if I need somebody to call a specific Senator because they love to hear from farmers and ranchers, they hear from me all day every day.

Shaye Koester (05:08):

Uh, but every so often we need some reinforcements from members. And so I do, uh, I would say every day talk to multiple, uh, farmers and ranches, whether that be a quick text message, phone call, or emails. Then my social media of choice is Twitter. It's interacting with folks on various platforms all day, and I enjoy it.

Shaye Koester (05:28):

You brought up a great point that senators love hearing from farmers and ranchers. So,, What is the best way for ranchers to express their concerns and make a difference if there's an issue that they're passionate about?

Ashley Kohls (05:38):

Yeah. So when folks ask that question about how they can better connect with their legislator, I kind of give them multiple points of feedback. Uh, so if you want to weigh in, on a specific topic or bill, uh, you know, first, make sure you understand what that bill does.

Ashley Kohls (05:54):

I think a phone call is always the best first option, right? Um, email works too, if folks aren't necessarily comfortable calling, but they really love to get a phone call. That way they can ask you questions and it can be in a more immediate response. Um, but an email always works as well. There are a lot of folks who do try to engage on social media, which is fine, but just make sure that, uh, the way that you engage in social media is the same way you would engage with them if they were standing there with you, or if you were talking to them on the phone, uh, one thing I would like to do more of, um, and it's one of those things that will have to happen this summer. Um, hopefully without some COVID issues, uh, is get more senators out on farms and ranches, you know?

Ashley Kohls (06:35):

So when you look at the unicameral in Nebraska specifically, um, there's like 15 to 17 senators of the 49 that are considered maybe rural. So getting some of the urban folks out to farms and ranches so they can see what they do, but also have a better understanding of the why. And I think I talked about this with your Block and Bridle class but there are a lot of conversations happening across the country. Not in Nebraska specifically, um, but through ballot initiatives, trying to change the way that agriculture operates, specifically livestock agriculture. The number one question that I've been getting from folks regarding some of those ballot initiatives is how do we prevent that from happening? And I think we need to talk about the why, you know, why we use AI technologies, why we de-horn and castrate and do those things to help folks better understand that we're not just doing it because we think we need to do it.

Ashley Kohls (07:30):

There are actual reasons behind it.

Shaye Koester (07:33):

Yeah, absolutely. We do need to communicate the why, because we always understand, but if you're not involved in it, it makes zero sense. So you brought up the point, when you're making those efforts to communicate, to make sure that you understand what's fully in the bill. So where can producers go to look into the bill and understand what it fully entails?

Ashley Kohls (07:55):

Yeah. So there are multiple places. If it's a bill that's specific to agriculture, it's likely one that we at Nebraska Cattlemen have flagged and taken pretty serious notes on. So if you go to the Nebraska Cattlemen's website, uh, so there were 684 bills introduced this session for the Nebraska unicameral. We picked out 113 of them that were pertinent to agriculture and wrote up a summary in layman's terms about what the bill is and what the bill does.

Ashley Kohls (08:20):

So that's one option. If you want to get a quick snippet of what the bill does if you go to the Nebraska unicameral website and you can type in the bill number. There are various ways that you can either read the bill or read the statement of intent of what the bill is supposed to do. Or you can call our office and say, "Hey, I'm hearing about this property tax bill or this brand bill or these small processor bills and I would like to know more about what they are, what they do." Uh, and then you can formulate whether they want to call their Senator and support it, or, um, or in some cases not support it. Uh, but there are options where folks can go get that information. They can call their Senator directly as well if they have questions.

Shaye Koester (09:00):

So you talked about that being available for Nebraska Cattlemen's, but is that something that's common for all state cattlemen associations for listeners who aren't from Nebraska?

Ashley Kohls (09:09):

Yeah, absolutely. So, for the states that have a state cattlemen's association, so I don't know what level of information they have out on their various platforms, but I do know they're all policy-based organizations that have grassroots policy processes in a policy book. So if that information is not readily available on their website, go ahead and call their staff or, call the leadership within their organizations. And if they don't have the immediate answer, they will absolutely direct you on where to go. If you're looking for federal policy and it might be something, uh, that they maybe don't have the background on, or aren't a well versed on a specific federal policy topic, our national organization as well has a wealth of knowledge and is a fantastic resource.

Shaye Koester (09:52):

So Nebraska Cattlemen's or other state associations are great resources, but what about new sources that you trust for some accurate information on current happenings? What would be some examples of those, or do you prefer to refer people back to what your organization puts out?

Ashley Kohls (10:08):

So I do spend a high percentage of my day reading various media platforms that are both agriculture-based and non-agriculture-based. I like to read the spectrum, right? Not just the typical agricultural media that when you go on social media tends to be there or fed to you, or all of the e-newsletters that land in your mailbox that you typically subscribe to because they're topics of interest. I actually go out and seek information that may not be something I necessarily agree with because I think that better positions us to be able to talk about why a specific policy or program is necessary. When you can understand the opposition, I think you're better positioned to be able to talk about the necessity of some of those things, but as far as specifics for trusted resources within the cattle industry, obviously, your state cattle organizations are always a trusted resource in our national organization. Um, but I like to reach out or have read specifically, Drovers and publications like that, which are national publications. Um, they do their research and put out balanced information.

Shaye Koester (11:15):

Okay. So then what are some current issues say on the national level that producers need to be aware of?

Ashley Kohls (11:22):

Yeah. So there's a lot of alignment between state and national issues that happen. Obviously, they're a little bit different from time to time because you have nuances for state rules and regulations versus federal. Uh, but there are a few, um, I would say a top couple that are pretty important at both levels. So, uh, when you look at Nebraska specifically tax in the stateside specific to property tax, um, if you have been, uh, watching any sort of news ag news, non-ag news, social media, um, you'll see, the death is something that's being talked about, uh, pretty heavily in agriculture right now. So taxes are one level. Supply chain resiliency is something that we are continuing to focus on at the state level and the federal level. COVID really highlighted that and some of the black swan events within the packing and processing industry kind of highlighted the need for improving our supply chain resiliency and supply chain diversity, right? So we have our large packing of processing side of the industry but maybe, you know, trying to prop up some more regional, processing capacity to introduce some more competition in shackle space is the market. So that's all part of that. Uh, and then regulatory certainty, I think, is the other item and it's pretty broad when you talk about regulatory certainty. Um, but when you look at the cattle industry specifically for an environmental type of regulations, knowing that that's not going to change so frequently, that by the time you kind of get up to speed on one specific regulation, then it changes again.

Ashley Kohls (12:53):

Um, and just, it's just one of those things that we're always looking at and, and always asking for is regulatory certainty within our industry. We understand that rules and regs have to change but as long as there's a scientific basis for that change and it's done so systematically.

Shaye Koester (13:07):

Well, thank you for sharing that. And yeah, a lot of those are hot topics right now. So we have touched on how producers can appropriately reach out if they have an issue, but what are some mistakes producers make, whether they realize it or not, when they're trying to express their concerns about an issue or a policy.

Ashley Kohls (13:28):

Yeah. tThe thing that I see most that tends to be a frustration is the sharing of misinformation and it's so easy to do because you see a tweet or something on Facebook, and it's easy to share it, especially if you only read the headlines.

Ashley Kohls (13:45):

And so I always encourage at least our leadership to make sure that if you see something and there's a headline that pops out and it piques your interest, click on the link and read it and make sure it's a reputable source. If you're unsure call and ask somebody before you hit the share button. Um, the other, uh, item that I see happen a lot is its HSUS, or somebody puts out something negative towards agriculture. Sharing and perpetuating that type of information as well is something that is a big frustration because you're really aiding in their cause with getting their information out. So instead of sharing that specific information, you can reference it, but then share something that's a counter to it that is factual and supportive of agriculture.

Shaye Koester (14:28):

Well, those are great points. So are there any other misconceptions about certain bills right now that you believe need to be cleared up? Some misinformation that's been spreading?

Ashley Kohls (14:39):

Um, I wouldn't necessarily say that it's misinformation, but there's a lack of information with a lot of the initiatives coming out of the current administration in Washington DC. So a specific one would be the 30 by 30 executive order. So there's been a series of meetings and I think it's important that we're talking about this executive order. The problem with it is the executive order was to put together a plan for 30 by 30. And that plan has not yet been released. I believe the deadline is sometime towards the end of April at the beginning of May and so making sure that if we're going to talk about 30 by 30, and we're going to talk about how ready to combat it, we first need to know exactly what's in it in order to address it.

Ashley Kohls (15:19):

So, um, the meetings that are happening and the information that's being shared is important because it's increasing awareness of some of those types of initiatives, but we also need to be prepared when the actual plan comes out, that we can continue that enthusiasm and all kind of work together to make sure that if it's getting to be detrimental to agriculture and if it's going to do some of the things that folks are assuming it will do that we can continue to cohesively work together to combat that.

Shaye Koester (15:46):

Well awesome and thank you for sharing that. It's always good to hear from someone else about that topic. Um, so kind of wrapping up, is there anything else ranchers can do to better stay up to date on ag policy or stay involved than what we've already talked about?

Ashley Kohls (16:02):

Yeah. So again, as I mentioned, you know, at the very beginning, we talked about what I do. Nebraska Cattlemen's is a membership-based organization and everything that we do is directed by our members. So getting involved, becoming a member of your state cattle organization, a national cattle organization that your personal beliefs align with, and going to meetings and helping shape that policy. When we send out information or more specifically, when we send out action alerts, respond to them. If we say, "Hey, we need you to call your Senator. We need you to call our representatives or our delegation in Washington, DC." Pick up the phone, send the email because like I said, they hear from me all the time and the rest of the policy team at Nebraska Cattlemen. They really like to hear from constituents and so open the email, read the information, and make the phone call. Those are ways that that folk can constructively get involved, but again, you know, coming to meetings and showing up with ideas.

Ashley Kohls (16:59):

So if you have a policy idea, but you're not quite sure how to craft it, or you don't know how, or what type of language to put down on paper, you know, we help folks with that all the time. You don't have to show up with a perfectly crafted idea. The whole point of the policy process is to talk about it and formulate things in a way that makes sense for a specific area, but also for the entire state.

Shaye Koester (17:22):

Awesome. So shifting gears a little bit, you talked about your background in production agriculture and how you worked within it through high school, and then your degree in animal sciences. What advice do you have for individuals in high school and college who are considering a career like you have, or becoming involved in the policy side of agriculture?

Ashley Kohls (17:43):

You know, that's a really good question. I think about often the path that I took from high school to college to where I am today. If you would have asked me in high school and college that I would be working in government and politics and lobbying, that would have probably been the last thing that I said that I would have done or even would have been interested in. Not everybody likes to talk about politics, so it's a craft that I learned kind of through trial and error but also through being open-minded and flexible, right? So my degree was in animal science and food safety. I was working for a cheese manufacturing plant in the quality departments. And I got a phone call that said, "Hey, would you be interested in taking your food safety background and applying it to the beef quality assurance program in the state and running the beef quality assurance program?" In my mind, it wouldn't have been a direct connection, but they're both HACCP-based programs. So absolutely it was an opportunity to work closer with livestock producers. I was working with the dairy farmers, obviously through the dairy cooperative that I was working at. Um, but to work more closely with would beef producers and from there, um, being able to talk about the why and what we do and kind of shifting that over into the policy side, and eventually, um, leading the cattle organization, the state cattlemen's association up in Minnesota, and it all just kind of happened. So be flexible and understand that what you went to college for is great and pursue a career in what you went to college for. But if you have the opportunity say yes, right, you can always go back and rely on that degree and go back into that specific career. But if there are exciting opportunities, take them.

Shaye Koester (19:18):

Well. Awesome. That wraps up all the questions I have for you unless you have anything else you want to share.

Ashley Kohls (19:23):

I don't thank you.

Shaye Koester (19:26):

Folks, that's a wrap on that one. Thanks for tuning in, and I hope you enjoyed what Ashley had to share. I know I got a lot of advice out of that. It makes me excited to do a better job of becoming informed on current events and what is happening on the policy side of the beef industry. Remember to go follow my social media. That's Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, and be a part of my live events and the conversations that make this, not just a podcast, but a community. So with that have a great day and I'll catch you on the next one.