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More work to be done on cattle market legislation
The ranking member of the Senate Ag Committee says there’s work to be done to address the price imbalance in the cattle industry when Congress returns to session after the first of the year.
US Senator John Boozman of Arkansas says there has been broad-based support to extend the authorization of Livestock Mandatory Reporting. “There is the desire to give much greater ability for producers to get more information regarding what was going on,” he says. “And so because of that legislation was introduced in the house, that passed not pretty overwhelmingly.”
He says the Senate also wants to dig deeper on other bills that have been introduced addressing competition in the cattle markets. “All of the different players involved in the cattle industry need to have a voice as we go forward,” he says. “And then try and find a solution for this large spread that we have in pricing.”
Boozman says a concerted effort needs to be made to protect the livelihood of the producers. “The plan is to have another hearing early in the year and address the Grassley/Fisher Bill,” he says. “And then also, the Johnson bill that was passed in the house.”
The US House passed bills to help improve price transparency in the cattle markets late in the year, one that would extend the authorization of Livestock Mandatory Reporting and the other would develop a cattle contract library. Both passed with overwhelming bipartisan support.
