Source: Tom Johnston, MEATINGPLACE, 9/21/15


The Senate Committee on Agriculture late last week passed bipartisan legislation to reauthorize Mandatory Price Reporting, officials said in a news release.

H.R. 2051 was passed by voice vote and sent to the Senate floor for consideration. The House passed the bill by voice vote earlier this year.

Livestock Mandatory Price Reporting requires packers to inform the USDA of the prices they pay livestock producers for cattle, hogs and lambs as well as the prices they receive for wholesale meat cuts. USDA then publishes reports that detail the dealings between livestock producers and meat packers.

The legislation also includes technical changes to swine and lamb reporting that legislators say will result in the capture of more transactions and more accurate reports.

The bill also mandates that USDA conduct a study, taking input from the livestock and meat community, on the “workability” of the reporting program before the next reauthorization in 2020.

“I understand the importance of these reports to the constituent community, and I strongly encourage USDA to use the authority they have to keep these reports on schedule any day that the markets are open so that livestock and futures markets aren’t thrown into disarray,” Senate Ag Committee Chairman Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) said in opening remarks during the business meeting.

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