WASHINGTON, DC – Continued concern and frustration with the lack of transparency within the cattle market by producers have led a bipartisan group of Senators including Democrats Jon Tester (MT) and Ron Wyden (OR), and Republicans Chuck Grassley (IA) and Deb Fischer (NE), to introduce the Cattle Price Discovery and Transparency Act.
The legislation filed on Tuesday would require USDA to establish mandatory levels of negotiated cash and negotiated grid trade for each cattle region, and would require packers to procure preset numbers of cattle from the cash market.
The minimum amounts set by USDA would be no less than the current 18 month average for each region and stipulations would ensure that no one region would shoulder the responsibility of the other regions.
Producers began expressing their frustration with the packers following a fire at the Holcombe, KS Tyson plant in 2019 that led to record profits for the big four processing companies (Tyson, JBS, Cargill, and National Beef) while cattlemen and feeders experienced in some cases, deep financial losses on the same cattle.
An industry-wide working group has been attempting to find solutions to the problem within the industry while avoiding federal involvement. That program continues with mixed results which is what led the sponsors of the measure to begin the process of finding a regulatory fix.
(SOURCE: All Ag News)
