II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 3229 

To amend the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 to establish a cattle 

contract library, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 17, 2021 

Mrs. FISCHER (for herself, Mr. GRASSLEY, Mr. TESTER, Mr. WYDEN, Ms. 

ERNST, Mr. BRAUN, Ms. SMITH, Mrs. HYDE-SMITH, Mr. DAINES, Mr. 

CASSIDY, and Mr. LUJA ́N) introduced the following bill; which was read 

twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 

A BILL 

To amend the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 to 

establish a cattle contract library, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Cattle Price Discovery 

5 and Transparency Act of 2021’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 212 of the Agricultural 

8 Marketing Act of 1946 (7 U.S.C. 1635a) is amended— 


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1 (1) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘cattle,’’ and 

2 inserting ‘‘cattle (including fed cattle),’’; 

3 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (4), (5), (6), 

4 (7), (8), (9), (10), (11), (12), (13), and (14) as 

5 paragraphs (5), (6), (7), (8), (10), (11), (12), (13), 

6 (15), (16), and (17), respectively; 

7 (3) by inserting after paragraph (3) the fol8 lowing: 

9 ‘‘(4) FED CATTLE.—The term ‘fed cattle’ 

10 means a steer or heifer that has been finished on a 

11 ration of roughage and feed concentrates, such as 

12 grains, protein meal, grass (forage), and other nutri13 ent-rich feeds, prior to slaughter.’’; 

14 (4) by inserting after paragraph (8) (as so re15 designated) the following: 

16 ‘‘(9) NEGOTIATED GRID PURCHASE.—The term 

17 ‘negotiated grid purchase’ means a purchase of fed 

18 cattle by a packer from a producer under which— 

19 ‘‘(A) the buyer-seller interaction results in 

20 a negotiated base price, which may be adjusted 

21 by premiums and discounts; and 

22 ‘‘(B) the fed cattle are scheduled for deliv23 ery to the packer not more than 14 days after 

24 the date on which the agreement for purchase 

25 is made.’’; and 


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1 (5) by inserting after paragraph (13) (as so re2 designated) the following: 

3 ‘‘(14) REGIONAL MANDATORY MINIMUM.—The 

4 term ‘regional mandatory minimum’ means, for each 

5 reporting region (as designated by the Agricultural 

6 Marketing Service), of the quantity of cattle pur7 chased for slaughter by a packer (as defined in sec8 tion 259(a)) in that region each current slaughter 

9 week, the minimum percentage of such cattle that 

10 are required to be purchased through negotiated 

11 purchases or negotiated grid purchases from pro12 ducers.’’. 

13 (b) CATTLE REPORTING DEFINITIONS.—Section 221 

14 of the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 (7 U.S.C. 

15 1635d) is amended— 

16 (1) by striking paragraph (3) and inserting the 

17 following: 

18 ‘‘(3) FORMULA MARKETING ARRANGEMENT.— 

19 The term ‘formula marketing arrangement’ means 

20 the advance commitment of cattle for slaughter— 

21 ‘‘(A) by any means other than through a 

22 negotiated purchase, negotiated grid purchase, 

23 or forward contract; and 

24 ‘‘(B) using a method for calculating 

25 price— 


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1 ‘‘(i) under which the price is deter2 mined at a future date; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) the basis of which is a price es4 tablished for a specified market, which 

5 may be based on any publicly reported 

6 price, including plant average price, re7 gional price, downstream price, or some 

8 other mutually agreeable price source.’’; 

9 (2) in paragraph (8)(B), by striking ‘‘market’’ 

10 and inserting ‘‘marketing’’; 

11 (3) by redesignating paragraphs (3), (4), (5), 

12 (6), (7), and (8) as paragraphs (4), (5), (7), (8), 

13 (10), and (12), respectively; 

14 (4) by inserting after paragraph (2) the fol15 lowing: 

16 ‘‘(3) CONTRACT.— 

17 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘contract’ 

18 means any agreement, written or oral, between 

19 a packer and a producer for the purchase of fed 

20 cattle for slaughter. 

21 ‘‘(B) EXCLUSION.—The term ‘contract’ 

22 does not include a contract for a negotiated 

23 purchase.’’; 

24 (5) by inserting after paragraph (5) (as so re25 designated) the following: 


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1 ‘‘(6) HEIFER.—The term ‘heifer’ means a bo2 vine female that has not given birth to a calf.’’; 

3 (6) by inserting after paragraph (8) (as so re4 designated) the following: 

5 ‘‘(9) STEER.—The term ‘steer’ means a bovine 

6 male castrated before reaching sexual maturity.’’; 

7 and 

8 (7) by inserting after paragraph (10) (as so re9 designated) the following: 

10 ‘‘(11) TYPE OF CONTRACT.— 

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘type of con12 tract’ means the classification of a contract for 

13 the purchase of cattle— 

14 ‘‘(i) into 1 of the categories described 

15 in subparagraph (B); and 

16 ‘‘(ii) by determining the base price of 

17 the cattle. 

18 ‘‘(B) CATEGORIES.—The categories for 

19 classification of a type of contract are the fol20 lowing: 

21 ‘‘(i) Formula marketing arrangement. 

22 ‘‘(ii) Forward contract. 

23 ‘‘(iii) Negotiated grid purchase con24 tract.’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. 14-DAY CATTLE SLAUGHTER. 

2 (a) DEFINITION OF CATTLE COMMITTED.—Section 

3 221(1) of the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 (7 

4 U.S.C. 1635d(1)) is amended by striking ‘‘7-day’’ and in5 serting ‘‘14-day’’. 

6 (b) MANDATORY REPORTING FOR LIVE CATTLE.— 

7 Section 222(c) of the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 

8 (7 U.S.C. 1635e(c)) is amended— 

9 (1) in paragraph (1)— 

10 (A) by striking subparagraphs (B) and 

11 (C); and 

12 (B) by redesignating subparagraph (D) as 

13 subparagraph (B); 

14 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘the informa15 tion’’ and inserting ‘‘information reported under this 

16 subsection’’; 

17 (3) by redesignating paragraph (2) as para18 graph (3); and 

19 (4) by inserting after paragraph (1) the fol20 lowing: 

21 ‘‘(2) PRIOR DAY REPORTING.— 

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The corporate officers 

23 or officially designated representatives of each 

24 packer processing plant shall report to the Sec25 retary, for each business day of the packer 

26 processing plant, not later than 10:00 a.m. 


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1 Central Time on each reporting day, the infor2 mation from the prior business day described in 

3 subparagraph (B). 

4 ‘‘(B) INFORMATION REQUIRED.—The in5 formation required under subparagraph (A) 

6 shall be, with respect to the prior business day, 

7 the number of cattle, organized by cattle type, 

8 scheduled for delivery to a packer processing 

9 plant for slaughter for each of the next 14 cal10 endar days.’’. 

11 SEC. 4. DAILY FORMULA BASE PRICE REPORTING. 

12 Section 222(c)(1)(A) of the Agricultural Marketing 

13 Act of 1946 (7 U.S.C. 1635e(c)(1)(A)) is amended in the 

14 matter preceding clause (i) by inserting ‘‘(including base 

15 price information for cattle purchased through a formula 

16 marketing arrangement)’’ after ‘‘day’’. 

17 SEC. 5. EXPEDITED CARCASS WEIGHTS REPORTING. 

18 Section 222 of the Agricultural Marketing Act of 

19 1946 (7 U.S.C. 1635e) is amended by adding at the end 

20 the following: 

21 ‘‘(f) EXPEDITED CARCASS WEIGHTS.— 

22 ‘‘(1) DETERMINATION.—Not later than 180 

23 days after the date of enactment of the Cattle Price 

24 Discovery and Transparency Act of 2021, the Sec25 retary shall determine the minimum amount of time 


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1 needed by the Secretary to publicly report the daily 

2 average carcass weight of cattle slaughtered by pack3 er processing plants. 

4 ‘‘(2) REPORTING.—Not later than 180 days 

5 after the Secretary has made a determination under 

6 paragraph (1), the Secretary shall begin publicly re7 porting the information described in that paragraph 

8 within the time determined under that paragraph.’’. 

9 SEC. 6. CATTLE CONTRACT LIBRARY. 

10 Chapter 2 of subtitle B of the Agricultural Marketing 

11 Act of 1946 is amended— 

12 (1) by redesignating section 223 (7 U.S.C. 

13 1635f) as section 224; and 

14 (2) by inserting after section 222 (7 U.S.C. 

15 1635e) the following: 

16 ‘‘SEC. 223. CATTLE CONTRACT LIBRARY. 

17 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the availability of ap18 propriations to carry out this section, the Secretary shall 

19 establish and maintain, through the Livestock Mandatory 

20 Price Reporting program, a library or catalog of each type 

21 of contract offered by packers to producers for the pur22 chase of all or part of the production of the producers 

23 of fed cattle (including cattle that are purchased or com24 mitted for delivery), including any schedules of premiums 

25 or discounts associated with the contract. 


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1 ‘‘(b) INFORMATION COLLECTION.— 

2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To maintain the library or 

3 catalog established under subsection (a), the Sec4 retary shall obtain information from each packer on 

5 each type of existing contract of the packer by re6 quiring a filing or other form of information submis7 sion from each packer. 

8 ‘‘(2) CONTRACTED CATTLE INFORMATION.—In9 formation submitted to the Secretary by a packer 

10 under paragraph (1) shall include, with respect to 

11 each existing contract of a packer— 

12 ‘‘(A) the type of contract; 

13 ‘‘(B) the duration of the contract; 

14 ‘‘(C) a summary of the contract terms; 

15 ‘‘(D) provisions in the contract that may 

16 affect the price of cattle covered by the con17 tract, including schedules, premiums and dis18 counts, and transportation arrangements; 

19 ‘‘(E) the total number of cattle covered by 

20 the contract solely committed to the packer 

21 each week within the 6-month and 12-month 

22 periods following the date of the contract, orga23 nized by reporting region; 


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1 ‘‘(F) in the case of a contract in which a 

2 specific number of cattle are not solely com3 mitted to the packer— 

4 ‘‘(i) an indication that the contract is 

5 an open commitment; and 

6 ‘‘(ii) any weekly, monthly, annual, or 

7 other limitations on the number of cattle 

8 that may be delivered to the packer under 

9 the contract; and 

10 ‘‘(G) a description of the provisions in the 

11 contract that provide for expansion in the num12 bers of fed cattle to be delivered under the con13 tract for the 6-month and 12-month periods fol14 lowing the date of the contract. 

15 ‘‘(c) AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall make 

17 publicly available to producers and other interested 

18 persons information (including the information de19 scribed in subsection (b)(2)), in a user-friendly for20 mat, on the types of contracts in the library or cata21 log established under subsection (a), including notice 

22 (on a real-time basis, if practicable) of the types of 

23 contracts that are being offered by packers to, and 

24 are open to acceptance by, producers for the pur25 chase of fed cattle. 


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1 ‘‘(2) MONTHLY REPORT.— 

2 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Beginning 30 days 

3 after the library or catalog is established under 

4 subsection (a), the Secretary shall make the in5 formation obtained each month in the library or 

6 catalog available in a monthly report to pro7 ducers and other interested persons. 

8 ‘‘(B) CONTENTS.—The monthly report de9 scribed in subparagraph (A) shall include— 

10 ‘‘(i) based on the information collected 

11 under subsection (b)(2)(E), an estimate by 

12 the Secretary of the total number of fed 

13 cattle committed under contracts for deliv14 ery to packers within the 6-month and 12- 

15 month periods following the date of the re16 port, organized by reporting region and 

17 type of contract; 

18 ‘‘(ii) based on the information col19 lected under subsection (b)(2)(F), the 

20 number of contracts with an open commit21 ment and any weekly, monthly, annual, or 

22 other limitations on the number of cattle 

23 that may be delivered under such con24 tracts; and 


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1 ‘‘(iii) based on the information col2 lected under subsection (b)(2)(G), an esti3 mate by the Secretary of the total max4 imum number of fed cattle that may be de5 livered within the 6-month and 12-month 

6 periods following the date of the report, or7 ganized by reporting region and type of 

8 contract. 

9 ‘‘(d) MAINTENANCE OF LIBRARY OR CATALOG.—In10 formation in the library or catalog established under sub11 section (a) about types of contracts that are no longer of12 fered or in use shall be removed from the library or cata13 log. 

14 ‘‘(e) CONFIDENTIALITY.—The reporting require15 ments for packers under this section shall be subject to 

16 the confidentiality protections provided under section 251. 

17 ‘‘(f) VIOLATIONS.—It shall be unlawful and a viola18 tion of this Act for any packer to willfully fail or refuse— 

19 ‘‘(1) to provide to the Secretary accurate infor20 mation required under this section; or 

21 ‘‘(2) to comply with any other requirement of 

22 this section. 

23 ‘‘(g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

24 are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary such 

25 sums as are necessary to carry out this section.’’. 


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1 SEC. 7. PUBLIC AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION. 

2 Section 251(a) of the Agricultural Marketing Act of 

3 1946 (7 U.S.C. 1636(a)) is amended— 

4 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and (2) as 

5 subparagraphs (A) and (B), respectively, and indent6 ing appropriately; 

7 (2) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A) 

8 (as so redesignated), by striking ‘‘The Secretary 

9 shall make available to the public information’’ and 

10 inserting the following: 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall make 

12 available to the public all information’’; and 

13 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘(2) EFFECT.—Nothing in this section permits 

15 the Secretary, or any officer or employee of the Sec16 retary, to withhold from the public the information, 

17 statistics, and documents described in paragraph 

18 (1).’’. 

19 SEC. 8. CASH MARKET ACQUISITION OF CATTLE. 

20 (a) SENSE OF THE SENATE.—It is the sense of the 

21 Senate that— 

22 (1) all participants in the fed cattle market 

23 have a responsibility to contribute to regionally suffi24 cient levels of negotiated trade of fed cattle in all 

25 cattle feeding regions in order to achieve robust 

26 price discovery; and 


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1 (2) the Department of Agriculture should exam2 ine existing academic literature regarding minimum 

3 levels of cash transactions necessary to achieve ro4 bust price discovery and enhance cattle producer le5 verage in the marketplace in each of the cattle mar6 keting regions. 

7 (b) AMENDMENT.—Chapter 5 of subtitle B of the Ag8 ricultural Marketing Act of 1946 (7 U.S.C. 1636 et seq.) 

9 is amended— 

10 (1) by redesignating sections 259 and 260 as 

11 sections 260 and 261, respectively; and 

12 (2) by inserting after section 258 the following: 

13 ‘‘SEC. 259. REGIONAL MANDATORY MINIMUMS FOR NEGO14 TIATED PURCHASES AND NEGOTIATED GRID 

15 PURCHASES. 

16 ‘‘(a) DEFINITION OF PACKER.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In this section, the term 

18 ‘packer’ has the meaning given the term in section 

19 221. 

20 ‘‘(2) EXCLUSION.—In this section, the term 

21 ‘packer’ does not include a packer that slaughters 

22 cattle at only 1 livestock processing plant. 

23 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years 

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1 covery and Transparency Act of 2021, the Secretary, 

2 in consultation with the Chief Economist, shall es3 tablish— 

4 ‘‘(A) regional mandatory minimums for the 

5 purpose of enhancing price discovery, trans6 parency, and cattle producer leverage for cattle 

7 market participants; and 

8 ‘‘(B) methods for establishing those re9 gional mandatory minimums, which shall be 

10 publicly available. 

11 ‘‘(2) PURCHASES.—A packer shall, with respect 

12 to a packer processing plant, purchase by negotiated 

13 purchase or negotiated grid purchase the percentage 

14 of cattle required by the regional mandatory min15 imum established for the region in which the packer 

16 processing plant is located. 

17 ‘‘(c) PUBLIC INPUT.—In carrying out subsection (b), 

18 the Secretary shall make all proposed regional mandatory 

19 minimums and proposed methods for establishing those 

20 minimums subject to a notice and comment period. 

21 ‘‘(d) DURATION.—Regional mandatory minimums es22 tablished for each reporting region under subsection (b)(1) 

23 shall be applicable for not more than a 24-month period. 

24 ‘‘(e) CONSIDERATIONS.—In carrying out subsection 

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1 tion with the Chief Economist, shall consider the following 

2 factors: 

3 ‘‘(1) The number of packers in the reporting re4 gion. 

5 ‘‘(2) The availability of cattle in the reporting 

6 region. 

7 ‘‘(3) Pre-existing contractual arrangements of 

8 packers in the reporting region. 

9 ‘‘(4) The number of pricing transactions (pens 

10 of cattle sold) in the reporting region. 

11 ‘‘(f) INITIAL REQUIREMENT.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 

13 the initial regional mandatory minimums established 

14 for each reporting region under subsection (b)(1) 

15 shall be not less than the average percentage of ne16 gotiated purchases and negotiated grid purchases in 

17 that region from the preceding 18 months. 

18 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENT.—No initial regional man19 datory minimum established for a reporting region 

20 under paragraph (1) shall exceed 300 percent of the 

21 lowest initial regional mandatory minimum estab22 lished under that paragraph for a region that has 

23 publicly reported a majority of weekly market infor24 mation during the previous 18 months. 


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1 ‘‘(g) BIANNUAL REVIEW.—On establishing regional 

2 mandatory minimums under subsection (b)(1), the Sec3 retary— 

4 ‘‘(1) shall review the regional mandatory mini5 mums not less frequently than once every 2 years; 

6 and 

7 ‘‘(2) shall, in consultation with the Chief Econ8 omist— 

9 ‘‘(A) maintain existing regional mandatory 

10 minimums; or 

11 ‘‘(B) modify the regional mandatory mini12 mums after— 

13 ‘‘(i) consulting with representatives of 

14 the United States cattle and beef industry; 

15 and 

16 ‘‘(ii) making the proposed modifica17 tion subject to a notice and comment pe18 riod. 

19 ‘‘(h) ENFORCEMENT.—On establishing regional man20 datory minimums under subsection (b)(1), the Secretary 

21 shall— 

22 ‘‘(1) regularly monitor compliance by packers 

23 with those regional mandatory minimums; and 


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1 ‘‘(2) enforce this section in accordance with sec2 tion 203 of the Packers and Stockyards Act, 1921 

3 (7 U.S.C. 193). 

4 ‘‘(i) COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS.—Not later than 2 

5 years after establishing regional mandatory minimums 

6 under subsection (b)(1), the Secretary, in consultation 

7 with the Chief Economist, shall conduct a quantifiable, 

8 data-driven cost-benefit analysis regarding the operation 

9 and effect of those regional mandatory minimums. 

10 ‘‘(j) APPLICATION.—This section shall apply only 

11 with respect to the reporting regions designated by the Ag12 ricultural Marketing Service.’’. 

13 SEC. 9. MAXIMUM PENALTY AMOUNT. 

14 The Secretary of Agriculture shall revise section 

15 3.91(b)(1)(lvi) of title 7, Code of Federal Regulations (or 

16 a successor regulation), to establish a maximum civil pen17 alty of $86,156, which shall be adjusted for inflation in 

18 the same manner and to the same extent as civil monetary 

19 penalties under the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Ad20 justment Act of 1990 (28 U.S.C. 2461 note). 

Æ 


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