USCA Attends the Farmers and Ranchers in Action Event

Dear Committee Members,
USCA attended the Farmers and Ranchers in Action event at the White House with Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack and other White House and Agency staff. The event was attended by a range of commodity groups and many farmers and ranchers. Conversations focused on strengthening rural support systems and improving programs that provide reliable markets, funding, and support for farms and ranches in all communities. In addition to the announcements outlined below, we were given an opportunity to share areas we would like to see more improvement in. Below is the information relevant to the committee. Look forward to an invitation for the committee to meet and discuss this along with other items for our Annual Meeting this December.
  1. Fair and Competitive Markets
Secretary Vilsack announced an interim report about the current condition of competition in the meat industry. The report has identified hidden fees and unfair pricing as major issues in the beef market. As next steps, an opportunity to comment in an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking will be issued to collect responses on issues with Alternative Marketing Agreement (AMAs) and potential interventions. The options presented will include:
  • A 50% cap on the use of a regional cash negotiated benchmark unless the regional benchmark meets regulatory standards for depth and reliability.
  • Limitations on meat packers’ exclusivity agreements or exclusivity trade practices.
  • Prohibitions to prevent meat packers from engaging in certain trade practices that provide the opportunity for them to manipulate the base price in these agreements.
  • A prohibition on meat packers from delaying the pick-up of live cattle that they have purchased.
  • Written documentation requirements for meat packers to assess contributions to price discovery and to determine compliance with any regulations adopted, etc.
  • A number of the interventions reference the potential for using exchange trading as a potential tool and ask questions about the value of doing so.
Please let me know if you have any questions, and feel welcome to send any feedback my way. Talk soon!
Best,
 Kalina Reini | Director of Policy and Public Affairs

United States Cattlemen’s Association

kalina@wssdc.com | (202) 870-0156
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