CALF_News_April_May_2020

21 CALF News • April | May 2020 • www.calfnews.net truckers would have to stop driving for potential safety reasons, even if their load of cattle would sit for hours without water or feed. “We have another year of ELD delay until Sept. 30,” Rivera said.“Why are we still asking for a delay? We still don’t have flexibility in hours of service. The bigger issue is leaving more drive time on the road. “We’re working with Farm Bureau and Livestock Marketing Association to convince members of Congress that we need more drive time.” She said there are several bills in Congress that would add more miles and time to trucking back haul, including HR4919, the Responsible and Efficient Agriculture Destination Act. “We need time on the back haul for unloading. It’s very simple.” She said, adding that there is bipartisan support for better ELD regulations for livestock haulers. Rivera noted that safety is vital in livestock hauling, and “we have a really strong safety record” in cattle transports. “We will continue to ask for ELD delay and added flexibility in the back end of 150 air miles to 172 road miles or hours exemption,” she said, adding that legisla- tion in HR4919 would provide these needs. “It will give haulers either two to three hours of either drive time or unloading time. So if they were sitting in line at a feedlot or a plant, all of that time would be exempt under this language. We want to get Republicans and Demo- crats on board with that commonsense legislation.” In an animal health matter, Rivera pointed out the readiness of the industry in the event of a major cattle disease out- break.“Our goal in the 2018 Farm Bill was to create a robust foot and mouth disease [FMD] vaccine bank to protect our herds,” she said.“The hope is that there will be contracts in place the next few months.” She said the goal is to have up to 30 million FMD vaccines contained in the vaccine bank, and that more money is available through USDA to fund a Continued on page 22  Several hundred trade show exhibitors welcome more than 8,000 convention attendees in the Alamo City. Corporate Office n Winchester, VA n 540-877-9632 n valleyproteins.com We offer high-energy fats and quality protein meals: n Bleachable Fancy Tallow n Recycled Cooking Oil n Choice White Grease n Meat and Bone Meal n Animal Vegetable Blends n Blood Meal We have these locations in the West to bring our services closer to you. Amarillo, TX n San Angelo, TX n Veribest, TX n Bernalillo, NM n El Reno, OK VALL_12004 – 2020 Calf News Ad.indd 1 3/23/20 2 :21 PM