Minnesota State Cattlemen paying close attention to cattle market legislation

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Minnesota State Cattlemen paying close attention to cattle market legislation

Groups like the Minnesota State Cattlemen’s Association are closely following cattle market legislation circulating the House and Senate.

MSCA executive director Allison Vanderwal says Missouri Congresswoman Vicki Hartzler introduced a companion bill to Nebraska Senator Deb Fischer’s Cattle Market Transparency Act of 2020 on Friday.

“That’s going to establish everything on a regional minimum threshold for negotiated cash trade.”

She tells Brownfield that’s in contrast to legislation introduced by Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley earlier this year that proposes a national 50 percent cash mandate to be delivered within 14 days.

Vanderwal also likes verbiage in the Cattle Market Transparency Act requiring USDA to create and maintain contract libraries between packers and producers that she says resembles the hog sector.

“That’s kind of important. And then it also has some information regarding LMR, basically just making sure that we have a little more clarity on packer contracts. Making sure that we’re delivering everything within that 14 days.”

She says USMCA is also encouraged by the PRICE Act that includes the USDA contract library, as well as pieces from the Direct Act and Pasture Act that address selling state-inspected meat across state lines and authorizing emergency grazing on CRP lands during pandemics.

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