I have never been to Washington D.C. before, so it was with great anticipation that I headed there for a series of meetings over 5 days last week. I did get to see the Smithsonian (went to the Air & Space Museum and the Natural History Museum) and to the White House, which was okay considering the limited amount of free time I had. There certainly is a lot to see, and most of it confined to the downtown area known as the National Mall.
The purpose of the meetings was to be part of the "Washington Fly-in." Because of the limited value for our Canadian delegation, it was the first time we attended of the four years that this event had taken place. It was also part of a Board Meeting that we had to attend, but as it turned out, it was good that we went to the fly-in part.
We were able to visit with the Canadian Embassy in D.C., and that turned out to be a good meeting as we were given an update on all of the agriculture issues they were following. Initially I was skeptical that we would gain anything of value, but it turned out to be a good meeting. We were given some insight that I didn't expect, and information of considerable value on the status of BSE discussions and the U.S. Farm Bill.
We also had the opportunity to hear from Collin Petersen, who is the Chair of the House Agriculture Committee and from the Secretary of the USDA himself, Mike Johanns. They both provided valuable updates into the status of country-of-origin labeling and the comment period on Canadian cattle over 30 months of age. We will use the information provided to us as part of a magazine article that will be in our next edition of our national magazine.
Then to top it off, on the flight back from D.C., I sit next to the Minister of Industry for Saskatchewan, Hon. Eric Cline. That turned out to be time well spent as we talked the entire time about issues (as well as some home renovations he was taking!) and kinda the state of affairs in the province. There were many common acquaintances (he was a law student of my uncle's) so it was an enjoyable trip home after a busy week.
