Today, October 20th, 2021, Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (IA-02) joined over a dozen House members in introducing H.R. 5609, the Cattle Contract Library Act. This bipartisan legislation, introduced by Rep. Dusty Johnson (SD-At Large), would create a library for cattle contracts within the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Agriculture Marketing Service Department.
“For months, I have been calling for increased transparency in our cattle markets to help both producers and consumers. I was proud to introduce the bipartisan Meat Packing Special Investigator Act earlier this year to take on anticompetitive practices and give producers a fair shake, and the Cattle Contract Library Act is another step towards increased accountability and transparency,” said Miller-Meeks. “Cattle businesses need access to the most accurate data to make the best decisions possible. I would like to thank Representative Johnson for his work on important legislation to support Iowa’s farmers and ranchers.”
Background:
Currently, cattlemen are unaware of contract terms being offered by packers, leading to a decline in leverage for smaller producers during price negotiations. USDA maintains a pork contract library, and following significant volatility in the cattle market and the release of the July 2020 Boxed Beef & Fed Cattle Price Spread Investigation Report, the creation of a library was recommended by experts and stakeholders.
H.R. 5609 amends the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 to ensure this information is reported and published along with other ongoing reports authorized by the Act. The bill would also instruct the USDA to regularly update the library in a user-friendly format and provide weekly or monthly reports as applicable. Additionally, the bill authorizes the USDA to issue grants to universities, associations, or other institutions that can work directly with producers to disseminate and analyze data to drive marketing decisions.
Original source can be found here
