Daines Introduces Bipartisan Bill to Bring Integrity, Transparency to Mt Cattle Markets
Press Release
U.S. Senator Steve Daines helped introduce a bipartisan bill to return fairness and transparency to the cattle markets that are currently dominated by four major meat packers.
"It's high time we put an end to the price gouging and manipulation plaguing Montana cattle markets. Restoring competition and transparency to our cattle markets will make certain that Montana ranchers are competing on a level playing field and help ensure Montana families are paying fair prices at the grocery store. I will always support the Montana farmers and ranchers who feed our great state, nation, and the rest of the world," Daines said.
The "Cattle Price Discovery and Transparency Act" will:
Require the Secretary of Agriculture to establish 5-7 regions encompassing the entire continental U.S. and then establish minimum levels of fed cattle purchases made through approved pricing mechanisms. Approved pricing mechanisms are fed cattle purchases made through negotiated cash, negotiated grid, at a stockyard, and through trading systems that multiple buyers and sellers regularly can make and accept bids. These pricing mechanisms will ensure robust price discovery and are transparent.
Establish a maximum penalty for covered packers of $90,000 for mandatory minimum violations. Covered packers are defined as those packers that during the immediately preceding five years have slaughtered five percent or more of the number of fed cattle nationally.
Create a publicly available library of marketing contracts, mandating box beef reporting to ensure transparency, expediting the reporting of cattle carcass weights, and requiring a packer to report the number of cattle scheduled to be delivered for slaughter each day for the next 14 days. The contract library would be permanently authorized and specify key details about the contents that must be included in the library like the duration of the contract and provisions in the contract that may impact price such as schedules, premiums and discounts, and transportation arrangements.
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