Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Jon Tester (D-MT) and Ron Wyden (D-OR) have introduced a “compromise cattle market proposal,” which would mandate the levels of cash trade.
The Cattle Price Discovery and Transparency Act combines price discovery legislative proposals from the senators into one package.
The bill would require the secretary of Agriculture and USDA chief economist to establish mandatory levels of negotiated cash and negotiated grid trade for each cattle region, based on each region’s 18-month average trade. Public comment would also be required to implement the levels.
No regional minimum level could be more than three times that of the lowest regional minimum, and no minimum could be lower than the 18-month average at the time the bill is enacted.
In addition, USDA would be required to create a contract library for contracts between packers and producers. USDA would also be prohibited from using confidentiality as “a justification for not reporting” and would be required to report all info in a way that ensures confidentiality.
Finally, the bill would require more timely reporting of cattle carcass weights, as well as require packers to report the number of cattle to be delivered for slaughter each day for the next 14 days.
