II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 949 

To amend the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 to foster efficient markets 

and increase competition and transparency among packers that purchase 

livestock from producers. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 24, 2021 

Mr. GRASSLEY (for himself, Mr. TESTER, Mr. HOEVEN, Ms. SMITH, Ms. 

ERNST, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. ROUNDS, Mr. BOOKER, and Mr. DAINES) 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 foster 

efficient markets and increase competition and transparency among packers that purchase livestock from producers. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SPOT MARKET PURCHASES OF LIVESTOCK BY 

4 PACKERS. 

5 Chapter 5 of subtitle B of the Agricultural Marketing 

6 Act of 1946 (7 U.S.C. 1636 et seq.) is amended— 


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1 (1) by redesignating section 260 (7 U.S.C. 

2 1636i) as section 261; and 

3 (2) by inserting after section 259 the following: 

4 ‘‘SEC. 260. SPOT MARKET PURCHASES OF LIVESTOCK BY 

5 PACKERS. 

6 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

7 ‘‘(1) COVERED PACKER.— 

8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘covered 

9 packer’ means a packer that is required under 

10 this subtitle to report to the Secretary each re11 porting day information on the price and quan12 tity of livestock purchased by the packer. 

13 ‘‘(B) EXCLUSION.—The term ‘covered 

14 packer’ does not include a packer that owns 

15 only 1 livestock processing plant. 

16 ‘‘(2) LIVESTOCK.—The term ‘livestock’ does not 

17 include— 

18 ‘‘(A) pork; 

19 ‘‘(B) poultry; 

20 ‘‘(C) a dairy-bred, dairy-bred cross, or beef 

21 animal over 30 months of age; or 

22 ‘‘(D) a foreign-born beef animal. 

23 ‘‘(3) NONAFFILIATED PRODUCER.—The term 

24 ‘nonaffiliated producer’ means a producer of live25 stock— 


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1 ‘‘(A) that sells livestock to a covered pack2 er; and 

3 ‘‘(B)(i) that has less than 1 percent equity 

4 interest in that covered packer; 

5 ‘‘(ii) in which that covered packer has less 

6 than 1 percent equity interest; 

7 ‘‘(iii) that has no officers, directors, em8 ployees, or owners that are officers, directors, 

9 employees, or owners of that covered packer; 

10 and 

11 ‘‘(iv) that has no fiduciary responsibility to 

12 that covered packer. 

13 ‘‘(4) SPOT MARKET SALE.— 

14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘spot mar15 ket sale’ means a purchase and sale of livestock 

16 by a covered packer from a nonaffiliated pro17 ducer— 

18 ‘‘(i) under an agreement that specifies 

19 a firm base price that may be equated with 

20 a fixed dollar amount on the date on which 

21 the agreement is entered into; 

22 ‘‘(ii) under which the livestock are 

23 slaughtered not more than 14 days after 

24 the date on which the agreement is entered 

25 into; and 


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1 ‘‘(iii) under which a reasonable com2 petitive bidding opportunity exists on the 

3 date on which the agreement is entered 

4 into, as determined under subparagraph 

5 (B). 

6 ‘‘(B) REASONABLE COMPETITIVE BIDDING

7 OPPORTUNITY.—For the purposes of subpara8 graph (A)(iii), a reasonable competitive bidding 

9 opportunity is considered to exist if— 

10 ‘‘(i) no written or oral agreement pre11 cludes the nonaffiliated producer from so12 liciting or receiving bids from other cov13 ered packers; and 

14 ‘‘(ii) no circumstance, custom, or 

15 practice exists that— 

16 ‘‘(I) establishes the existence of 

17 an implied contract (as determined in 

18 accordance with the Uniform Com19 mercial Code); and 

20 ‘‘(II) precludes the nonaffiliated 

21 producer from soliciting or receiving 

22 bids from other covered packers. 

23 ‘‘(b) GENERAL RULE.—Of the quantity of livestock 

24 that is slaughtered by a covered packer during each re25 porting week in each plant, the covered packer shall 


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1 slaughter not less than 50 percent of the quantity through 

2 spot market sales from nonaffiliated producers. 

3 ‘‘(c) NONPREEMPTION.—Notwithstanding section 

4 259, this section does not preempt any requirement of a 

5 State or political subdivision of a State that requires a 

6 covered packer to purchase a greater percentage of live7 stock on the spot market than the percentage required 

8 under this section. 

9 ‘‘(d) RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER PROVISIONS.—Noth10 ing in this section affects the interpretation of any other 

11 provision of this Act, including section 202.’’. 

Æ 


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