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AMS holds listening session for pilot Cattle Contract Library program development
The USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service is working to shape a Cattle Contract Library pilot program. Bruce Summers is the administrator for AMS. “Congress gave us until September 30, 2023 to design and implement this pilot,” he says. “That’s 16 months and not a ton of time.”
Chelsea Good with the Livestock Marketing Association says the pilot Cattle Contract Library should focus on three areas. “The first is ease of use,” she says. “The second is the completeness of information, and the third is volume information that is meaningful to the industry.”
Mark Dopp with the North American Meat Institute says his organization has concerns, and it is crucial to keep business information confidential. “Everyone needs to remember, the information AMS publishes through this mechanism is going to be available for everyone to see,” he says. “Not just producers and not just packers, but everyone in the supply chain and beyond. For that reason, I will repeat what I said before, do no harm.”
Brett Crosby is a cattle producer and a member of the US Cattlemen’s Association. “I believe that every participant in the cattle market should play by the same rules,” he says. “Entities who benefit from publicly available data should also be required to participate in developing those data sets.”
AMS will accept written comments through April 29, 2022. The full recorded session along with written feedback will be posted on the AMS website.
