WASHINGTON – Sens. Chuck Grassley
(R-Iowa), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Jon Tester (D-Mont.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.)
today released an updated version of their legislation, the
Cattle Price Discovery and Transparency Act.
The senators first introduced the bill in
November.
“I frequently hear from Iowa’s
independent cattle producers about their struggle to get a fair price for their
cattle while the nation’s four largest packers operate with record profits. I
pushed for hearings in the Senate’s Agriculture and Judiciary committees to
shine a light on these unfair market practices, and I’ve continued working with
a bipartisan group of senators to develop a solution. Our latest proposal comes
after months of working with staff at the U.S. Department of Agriculture to
make technical changes that will allow them to best implement the bill. It
takes several steps to improve cattle price transparency and will make
much-needed market reforms to help independent producers in Iowa and across the
country,” Grassley said. “This bipartisan
bill is the best opportunity we have to make real reform in the cattle market
this year, and I’ll continue to work with my colleagues to get this across the
finish line.”
“Our family farmers and ranchers have
told us about the need for both robust price discovery and transparency in the
cattle markets. The updates to our legislation incorporate a variety of
stakeholder feedback to achieve our goal of ensuring more fairness in cattle
markets. It’s encouraging to see our bill gain momentum and I am hopeful we
will have a hearing on this important legislation in the Senate Agriculture
Committee in the coming weeks,” Fischer
said.
“For too long, large corporations have
raised prices on working families while giving Montana ranchers the short end
of the stick. Increasing price discovery will give producers more control and
better information when they sell their livestock, and is a key step in making
markets more competitive. Montana ranchers raise the best beef in the world,
and it’s about time they got a fair cut for their premium product,” said Tester.
“Oregon’s ranchers shouldn’t face an
unfairly tilted marketplace that favors corporate meat packers and undercuts
their small family businesses from producing nationally renowned beef for
consumers. This bipartisan legislation shows how both parties can come together
to level the playing field by restoring market fairness, efficiency, and
transparency for U.S. cattle ranchers,” said
Wyden.
"Sen. Grassley works tirelessly to
represent his constituent cattlemen in the face of adversity. The Iowa
Cattlemen's Association has long advocated for cattle market reform to address
two significant challenges: the lack of price discovery throughout the beef
belt and transparency with regard to formula contracts. We look forward to
working with USDA and Iowa's congressional delegation to ensure the provisions
are implemented in the most meaningful way possible," said Bob Noble, president of Iowa Cattlemen's Association.
The updated bill would:
- Require the
Secretary of Agriculture to establish 5-7 regions encompassing the entire
continental U.S. and then establish minimum levels of fed cattle purchases made
through approved pricing mechanisms. Approved pricing mechanisms are fed cattle
purchases made through negotiated cash, negotiated grid, at a stockyard and
through trading systems that multiple buyers and sellers regularly can make and
accept bids. These pricing mechanisms will ensure robust price discovery and
are transparent.
- Establish a
maximum penalty for covered packers of $90,000 for mandatory minimum
violations. Covered packers are defined as those packers that during the
immediately preceding five years have slaughtered five percent or more of the
number of fed cattle nationally.
- The bill also
includes provisions to create a publicly available library of marketing
contracts, mandating boxed beef reporting to ensure transparency, expediting
the reporting of cattle carcass weights and requiring a packer to report the
number of cattle scheduled to be delivered for slaughter each day for the next
14 days. The contract library would be permanently authorized and specify key
details about the contents that must be included in the library – like the
duration and other provisions in the contract that may impact price such as
schedules, premiums, discounts and transportation arrangements.
Click
HERE to read the
amended bill text.
Click
HERE for an updated
one-pager on the bill.
Click
HERE for an updated
section-by-section summary of the bill.
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