The Livestock Marketing State Wide Action Team (SWAT) is one of twelve SWATs that focus on different issue areas. The purpose of the Iowa Farm Bureau’s SWATs is to provide:

• education to SWAT members so IFBF has a well-informed “panel of experts” on issues;
• an additional avenue for input to the organization in issue surfacing;
• a group that can be asked to participate in policy implementation (feedback on specific regulations, attendance requested at town hall meetings, etc.);
• input on IFBF programming needs.

To make the best use of our volunteers’ time, most of the communication with the SWATs will be done via email and this website. The SWATs will probably meet in person only at the IFBF Annual Meeting in August (for issue surfacing) and at the Policy Information Conference in March (for issue education and program review.)

Not a member of the Livestock Marketing SWAT Team? Click here to get signed up!

Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) websites

http://livestock-marketing.tamu.edu/COOL.html (site maintained by Texas A&M with links to analyses by Drs. Glenn Grimes, David Anderson, Ron Plain, and AFBF)

http://www.ams.usda.gov/cool/ (Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA)

Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) websites

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Fact_Sheets/Bovine_Spongiform_Encephalopathy_BSE/index.asp (Food Safety Inspection Service, USDA)

http://www.fda.gov/oc/opacom/hottopics/bse.html (Food and Drug Administration)

http://www.bseinfo.org/ (Cattlemen's Beef Board and the National Cattlemen's Beef Association)

National Animal Identification System (NAIS) websites

http://animalid.aphis.usda.gov/nais/index.shtml (Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA)

Livestock Price Reporting websites

http://www.agriculture.state.ia.us/marketinfo.htm (Agricultural Marketing Bureau, Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship )

http://www.ams.usda.gov/lsmnpubs/ (Agricultural Marketing Service, Livestock and Grain Marketing News, USDA)