The open market for livestock producers and buyers is a dance that fewer have been taking part in as contracts and integration have taken much of the volatility out of the marketplace.
Bipartisan Group of Senators To Introduce Cattle Price Discovery and Transparency Act
Share
The open market for livestock producers and buyers is a dance that fewer have been taking part in as contracts and integration have taken much of the volatility out of the marketplace.
That didn’t change much in 2020. In 2021, a group of lawmakers joined forces to introduce another attempt at leveling the playing field at the packing house door.
Josh Buetter reports.
Transcript
This week, a bipartisan group of four U.S. Senators announced a compromise on steps to improve cattle markets by combining parts of previous bills into a new forthcoming Cattle Price Discovery and Transparency Act.
The move comes on the heels of pandemic-driven meatpacking supply chain labor issues which reverberated down to livestock producers.
Sen. Chuck Grassley/R – Iowa: “How do you justify making such low bids when you're turning such a significant profit?”
Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa, a proponent of the bill, has accused the nation’s four largest meatpacking corporations of operating in the shadows.
Grassley has instigated several recent hearings to highlight the plight of declining cash markets for independent cattle producers, who have wanted to leverage volatility into robust price discovery, while meatpacker-driven contractual agreements grow – the likes of which dominate other sectors like hog and poultry production.
But the bulk of such formula pricing is based on previously negotiated cash prices.
The new proposed legislation takes a regional approach, by establishing mandatory minimum thresholds of negotiated cash and grid trades based on each region’s 18-month average trade and requires USDA to create and maintain a public catalog of marketing contracts between producers and processors while maintaining confidentiality.
The American Farm Bureau and The National Farmers Union are among a number of state and national organizations which have thrown their support behind the measure.
For Market to Market, I’m Josh Buettner.
Watch More
New tariffs emerge as business owners sue for import fees. The increasing dominance of two row crops in the U.S. And, commodity market analysis with Sue Martin.
Spring 2026 has started dry. Eric Hunt of UNL Extension breaks down the Drought Monitor, disappearing snowpack, and why the next two weeks of rain could define the entire growing season.
Sue Martin discusses the economic and commodity markets in this web-only feature.
Sue Martin discusses the economic and commodity markets.
Questions still remain if President Trump will be able to apply tariffs on imports in the long term, and whether trading partners ratify trade agreements negotiated under trade threats.
Many California dairy producers have made fighting climate change a high priority. Recent adoption of certain laws has helped them in achieving their goal.