[Source Jerry Lackey for the San Angelo Standard Times]
An unbelievable number of issues confront not only the cattle business but agriculture as a whole, says Colin Woodall, vice president of government affairs for National Cattlemen’s Beef Association in Washington, D.C. But one of the biggest concerns is the Environmental Protection Agency’s dust rule.
“The EPA is proposing a tenfold reduction in the thresholds of what they call coarse particle matter, which is EPA talk for agricultural dust,” Woodall said in a recent interview during the 65th annual National Association of Farm Broadcasters convention.
“We’re talking about everything that comes out of the back of a cotton stripper or a combine (dust, leaves and harvest debris), cows that are milling around in the lot, even dust kicked up from pickup tires while driving down the ranch road,” Woodall said. “They would all be in violation of EPA’s clean air rules.”
Woodall said the proposed rules mean agriculture as a whole in the United States is going to be in violation of the ambient air quality standards.
“When you look at West Texas on a dusty day in March, all of the sudden, the natural air is going to be in violation,” said Woodall, a native of Big Spring who grew up in cattle business.
Last Thursday, Colorado State University’s Institute for Livestock and the Environment held their second Stakeholder Summit, an annual event where Institute faculty meet and share information with stakeholders from industry, government, and non-profit sectors.
In keeping with the theme of this year’s Summit, “working together to solve environmental problems”, over 20 posters were presented, highlighting interdisciplinary projects in the six areas the Institute focuses on: water quality and conservation, air quality and emissions, energy, pharmaceuticals, and pathogens.
This year, the Institute, in partnership with CSU’s Western Center for Integrated Resource Management, presented awards graduate students with the most outstanding poster presentations. Institute faculty judged posters based on several criteria:
- Overall appearance (20 points)
- Relevance to livestock and the environment (15 points)
- Objectives clearly stated (15 points)
- Methodology clearly stated (15 points)
- Conclusions are reasonable (15 points)
- Author is knowledgeable when questioned (20 points)
There were a total of 16 posters presented by graduate students at the 2009 Stakeholder Summit and the poster competition was very competitive.
First place was awarded to Juan Leon, a graduate student in CSU’s Department of Animal Science, for his poster about a biosensor used to quickly detect ecoli in environmental water.
Second place went to Heather Storteboom, a graduate student in the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering at CSU, for her poster on tracking the source of antibiotic-resistant genes in a mixed-landscape watershed.
Third place was awarded to Sam Evans, a graduate student in CSU’s Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, for his poster on the economic feasibility of using anerobic digesters in livestock operations in the Mountain West.
The 2009 ILE Stakeholder Summit Abstract Book published by the contains descriptions of all the posters presented at last week’s Summit.
