I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8557 

To amend the Packers and Stockyards Act, 1921, to establish a cattle 

contract library, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 9, 2020 

Mrs. HARTZLER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Agriculture 

A BILL 

To amend the Packers and Stockyards Act, 1921, 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 Market Trans5 parency Act of 2020’’. 

6 SEC. 2. CATTLE CONTRACT LIBRARY. 

7 Title II of the Packers and Stockyards Act, 1921, 

8 is amended by inserting after section 223 (7 U.S.C. 198b) 

9 the following: 


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1 ‘‘Subtitle C—Cattle Contracts 

2 ‘‘SEC. 231. DEFINITIONS. 

3 ‘‘In this subtitle: 

4 ‘‘(1) BASE PRICE.—The term ‘base price’ 

5 means the price paid for cattle delivered to a packer, 

6 before application of any premiums or discounts, ex7 pressed in dollars per hundred pounds of carcass 

8 weight. 

9 ‘‘(2) CONTRACT.— 

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara11 graph (B), the term ‘contract’ means any 

12 agreement, written or oral, between a packer 

13 and a producer for the purchase of fed cattle 

14 for slaughter. 

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

16 does not include a contract for a negotiated 

17 purchase. 

18 ‘‘(3) FED CATTLE.—The term ‘fed cattle’ 

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

20 ration of roughage and feed concentrates, such as 

21 grains, protein meal, grass (forage), and other nutri22 ent-rich feeds, prior to slaughter. 

23 ‘‘(4) FORMULA MARKETING ARRANGEMENT.— 

24 The term ‘formula marketing arrangement’ means 

25 the advance commitment of cattle for slaughter— 


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

2 negotiated purchase, negotiated grid purchase, 

3 or forward contract; and 

4 ‘‘(B) using a method for calculating 

5 price— 

6 ‘‘(i) under which the price is deter7 mined at a future date; 

8 ‘‘(ii) the basis of which is a price es9 tablished for a specified market, which 

10 may be based on any publicly reported 

11 price, including plant average price, re12 gional price, downstream price, or some 

13 other mutually agreeable price source; and 

14 ‘‘(iii) that may include a grid or 

15 nongrid price. 

16 ‘‘(5) FORWARD CONTRACT.—The term ‘forward 

17 contract’ means— 

18 ‘‘(A) an agreement for the purchase of fed 

19 cattle, executed in advance of slaughter, under 

20 which the base price is established by reference 

21 to— 

22 ‘‘(i) prices quoted on the Chicago 

23 Mercantile Exchange; or 

24 ‘‘(ii) other comparable publicly avail25 able prices; or 


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1 ‘‘(B) any other contract for the purchase 

2 of fed cattle, executed in advance of slaughter, 

3 as determined by the Secretary. 

4 ‘‘(6) HEIFER.—The term ‘heifer’ means a bo5 vine female that has not given birth to a calf. 

6 ‘‘(7) NEGOTIATED GRID PURCHASE.—The term 

7 ‘negotiated grid purchase’ means a purchase of fed 

8 cattle by a packer from a producer under which— 

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

10 a negotiated base price, which may be adjusted 

11 by premiums and discounts; and 

12 ‘‘(B) the cattle are scheduled for delivery 

13 to the packer not more than 14 days after the 

14 date on which the agreement for purchase is 

15 made. 

16 ‘‘(8) NEGOTIATED PURCHASE.—The term ‘ne17 gotiated purchase’ means a purchase of fed cattle 

18 (commonly known as a ‘cash’ or ‘spot market’ pur19 chase) by a packer from a producer under which— 

20 ‘‘(A) the buyer-seller interaction that re21 sults in the purchase and the agreement on the 

22 actual base price for the purchase occur on the 

23 same day; and 

24 ‘‘(B) the cattle are scheduled for delivery 

25 to the packer not more than 30 days after the 


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1 date on which the agreement for purchase is 

2 made. 

3 ‘‘(9) PACKER.—The term ‘packer’, with respect 

4 to a contract, means a packer that slaughters cattle 

5 at 1 or more federally inspected processing plants, 

6 each of which— 

7 ‘‘(A) slaughters an average of not less than 

8 125,000 head of cattle per year during the 5 

9 calendar years immediately preceding the date 

10 on which the contract is executed; or 

11 ‘‘(B) has not slaughtered cattle during 

12 those immediately preceding 5 calendar years 

13 but has the capacity to slaughter not less than 

14 125,000 head of cattle per year, as determined 

15 by the Secretary. 

16 ‘‘(10) PRODUCER.—The term ‘producer’ means 

17 a person engaged, directly or through an inter18 mediary, in the business of selling cattle to a packer 

19 for slaughter. 

20 ‘‘(11) STEER.—The term ‘steer’ means a bovine 

21 male castrated before reaching sexual maturity. 

22 ‘‘(12) TYPE OF CONTRACT.— 

23 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘type of con24 tract’ means the classification of a contract for 

25 the purchase of cattle— 


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

2 in subparagraph (B); and 

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

4 the cattle. 

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

6 classification of a type of contract are the fol7 lowing: 

8 ‘‘(i) Formula marketing arrangement. 

9 ‘‘(ii) Forward contract. 

10 ‘‘(iii) Negotiated grid purchase con11 tract. 

12 ‘‘SEC. 232. CATTLE CONTRACT LIBRARY. 

13 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the availability of ap14 propriations to carry out this section, the Secretary shall 

15 establish and maintain a library or catalog of each type 

16 of contract offered by packers to producers for the pur17 chase of all or part of the production of the producers 

18 of fed cattle (including cattle that are purchased or com19 mitted for delivery), including any schedules of premiums 

20 or discounts associated with the contract. 

21 ‘‘(b) INFORMATION COLLECTION.— 

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

23 catalog established under subsection (a), the Sec24 retary shall obtain information from each packer on 

25 each type of existing contract of the packer by reVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:28 Oct 31, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8557.IH H8557

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1 quiring a filing or other form of information submis2 sion from each packer. 

3 ‘‘(2) CONTRACTED CATTLE NUMBERS.—Infor4 mation that shall be submitted to the Secretary by 

5 a packer under paragraph (1) shall include, with re6 spect to each existing contract of a packer— 

7 ‘‘(A) the type of contract; and 

8 ‘‘(B) a description of the provisions in the 

9 contract that provide for expansion in the num10 bers of fed cattle to be delivered under the con11 tract for the 6-month and 12-month periods fol12 lowing the date of the contract. 

13 ‘‘(c) AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION.— 

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

15 available to producers and other interested persons 

16 information on the types of contracts in the library 

17 or catalog established under subsection (a), includ18 ing notice (on a real-time basis, if practicable) of the 

19 types of contracts that are being offered by packers 

20 to, and are open to acceptance by, producers for the 

21 purchase of fed cattle. 

22 ‘‘(2) MONTHLY REPORT.— 

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

24 after the library or catalog is established under 

25 subsection (a), the Secretary shall make the inVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:28 Oct 31, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8557.IH H8557

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1 formation obtained each month in the library or 

2 catalog available in a monthly report to pro3 ducers and other interested persons. 

4 ‘‘(B) CONTENTS.—The monthly report de5 scribed in subparagraph (A) shall include— 

6 ‘‘(i) an estimate by the Secretary of 

7 the total number of fed cattle committed 

8 under contracts for delivery to packers 

9 within the 6-month and 12-month periods 

10 following the date of the report, organized 

11 by reporting region and type of contract; 

12 and 

13 ‘‘(ii) an estimate by the Secretary of 

14 the total maximum number of fed cattle 

15 that may be delivered within the 6-month 

16 and 12-month periods following the date of 

17 the report, based on the provisions de18 scribed in subsection (c)(2)(B) in existing 

19 contracts, organized by reporting region 

20 and type of contract. 

21 ‘‘(d) MAINTENANCE OF LIBRARY OR CATALOG.—In22 formation in the library or catalog established under sub23 section (a) about types of contracts that are no longer of24 fered or in use shall be removed from the library or cata25 log. 


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1 ‘‘(e) CONFIDENTIALITY.—The reporting require2 ments for packers under this section shall be subject to 

3 the confidentiality protections provided under section 251 

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

5 1636). 

6 ‘‘(f) VIOLATIONS.—It shall be unlawful and a viola7 tion of this Act for any packer to willfully fail or refuse— 

8 ‘‘(1) to provide to the Secretary accurate infor9 mation required under this section; or 

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

11 this section. 

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

13 are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary such 

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

15 SEC. 3. CASH MARKET ACQUISITION OF CATTLE. 

16 Title II of the Packers and Stockyards Act, 1921 (7 

17 U.S.C. 191 et seq.) (as amended by section 2), is amended 

18 by adding at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘Subtitle D—Cash Market 

20 Acquisition of Cattle 

21 ‘‘SEC. 241. DEFINITIONS. 

22 ‘‘In this subtitle: 

23 ‘‘(1) NEGOTIATED GRID PURCHASE.—The term 

24 ‘negotiated grid purchase’ means a purchase of cat25 tle by a packer from a producer under which— 


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

2 a negotiated base price, which may be adjusted 

3 by premiums and discounts; and 

4 ‘‘(B) the cattle are scheduled for delivery 

5 to the packer not more than 14 days after the 

6 date on which the agreement for purchase is 

7 made. 

8 ‘‘(2) NEGOTIATED PURCHASE.—The term ‘ne9 gotiated purchase’ means a purchase of cattle (com10 monly known as a ‘cash’ or ‘spot market’ purchase) 

11 by a packer from a producer under which— 

12 ‘‘(A) the buyer-seller interaction that re13 sults in the purchase and the agreement on the 

14 actual base price for the purchase occur on the 

15 same day; and 

16 ‘‘(B) the cattle are scheduled for delivery 

17 to the packer not more than 30 days after the 

18 date on which the agreement for purchase is 

19 made. 

20 ‘‘(3) PACKER.—The term ‘packer’ does not in21 clude a packer that owns only 1 livestock processing 

22 plant. 

23 ‘‘(4) PRODUCER.—The term ‘producer’ has the 

24 meaning given the term in section 212 of the Agri25 cultural Marketing Act of 1946 (7 U.S.C. 1635a). 


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1 ‘‘(5) REGIONAL MANDATORY MINIMUM.—The 

2 term ‘regional mandatory minimum’ means, for each 

3 reporting region (as designated by the Agricultural 

4 Marketing Service), of the quantity of cattle pur5 chased for slaughter by a packer in that region each 

6 slaughter week, the minimum percentage of such 

7 cattle that is required to be purchased through nego8 tiated purchases or negotiated grid purchases from 

9 producers. 

10 ‘‘(6) SLAUGHTER WEEK.—The term ‘slaughter 

11 week’ has the meaning given the term ‘current 

12 slaughter week’ in section 212 of the Agricultural 

13 Marketing Act of 1946 (7 U.S.C. 1635a). 

14 ‘‘SEC. 242. REGIONAL MANDATORY MINIMUMS. 

15 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

16 date of enactment of this subtitle, the Secretary shall es17 tablish regional mandatory minimums for the purpose of 

18 enhancing price discovery and transparency for cattle 

19 market participants. 

20 ‘‘(b) PUBLIC INPUT.—In carrying out subsection (a), 

21 the Secretary shall make each proposed regional manda22 tory minimum subject to a notice and comment period. 

23 ‘‘(c) CONSIDERATIONS.—In carrying out subsection 

24 (a) for each reporting region, the Secretary shall consider 

25 the following factors: 


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1 ‘‘(1) The number of packers in the reporting re2 gion. 

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

4 region. 

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

6 packers in the reporting region. 

7 ‘‘(d) ENFORCEMENT.—On establishing regional man8 datory minimums under subsection (a), the Secretary 

9 shall— 

10 ‘‘(1) regularly monitor compliance by packers 

11 with those regional mandatory minimums; and 

12 ‘‘(2) enforce this section in accordance with sec13 tion 203.’’. 

14 SEC. 4. 14-DAY CATTLE SLAUGHTER. 

15 (a) DEFINITION OF CATTLE COMMITTED.—Section 

16 221(1) of the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 (7 

17 U.S.C. 1635d(1)) is amended by striking ‘‘7-day’’ and in18 serting ‘‘14-day’’. 

19 (b) DAILY REPORTING.—Section 222(c)(1) of the 

20 Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 (7 U.S.C. 

21 1635e(c)(1)) is amended by adding at the end the fol22 lowing: 

23 ‘‘(E) Packer purchase commitments, which 

24 shall be equal to the number of cattle, orga25 nized by cattle type, scheduled for delivery to a 


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1 packer for slaughter for each of the next 14 cal2 endar days.’’. 

3 SEC. 5. PUBLIC AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION. 

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

5 1946 (7 U.S.C. 1636(a)) is amended— 

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

7 subparagraphs (A) and (B), respectively, and indent8 ing appropriately; 

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

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

11 shall make available to the public information’’ and 

12 inserting the following: 

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

14 available to the public all information’’; and 

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

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

17 the Secretary, or any officer or employee of the Sec18 retary, to withhold from the public the information, 

19 statistics, and documents described in paragraph 

20 (1).’’. 

Æ 


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