I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 559 

To make improvements with respect to the pricing of cattle in the United 

States, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 26, 2023 

Mr. JOHNSON of South Dakota (for himself, Ms. SPANBERGER, Mr. BAIRD, 

Mr. GOTTHEIMER, Mr. FEENSTRA, Ms. WEXTON, and Mr. CUELLAR) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture 

A BILL 

To make improvements with respect to the pricing of cattle 

in the United States, 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 ‘‘Butcher Block Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. ASSISTANCE FOR NEW AND EXPANDED LIVESTOCK 

6 OR MEAT PROCESSORS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Agriculture (in 

8 this section referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) may make or 

9 guarantee a loan for the purpose of— 


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1 (1) increasing capacity of livestock and poultry 

2 processing, facilitating economic opportunity for live3 stock and poultry producers through processing ac4 tivities, and diversifying processing ownership; 

5 (2) increasing the customer base or revenue re6 turns of livestock and poultry producers through in7 vestment in processing capacity; 

8 (3) improving, developing, or financing livestock 

9 and poultry processing capacity or employment in10 cluding through the financing of working capital; or 

11 (4) promoting the interstate trade and local 

12 sales of processed livestock and poultry by financing 

13 improvements to meet relevant Federal, State, and 

14 local regulatory standards. 

15 (b) ELIGIBILITY; GENERAL LIMITATIONS.— 

16 (1) ELIGIBLE RECIPIENT.—An entity shall be 

17 eligible for a loan or guarantee under this section if 

18 the entity is— 

19 (A) a public, private, or cooperative organi20 zation organized on a for-profit or nonprofit 

21 basis; 

22 (B) an Indian tribe on a Federal or State 

23 reservation, or any other federally recognized 

24 Indian tribal group; or 

25 (C) an individual. 


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1 (2) FACILITY LOCATION.— 

2 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

3 subparagraph (B), a facility constructed, ex4 panded, modified, refurbished, or re-equipped 

5 with proceeds from a loan made or guaranteed 

6 under this section shall be in a rural area. 

7 (B) EXCEPTION.—A facility constructed, 

8 expanded, modified, refurbished, or re-equipped 

9 with proceeds from a loan made or guaranteed 

10 under this section may be in a non-rural area 

11 if— 

12 (i) the primary use of the loan in13 volved is for the facility, and the facility 

14 will increase the customer base or revenue 

15 returns of livestock and poultry producers 

16 that are located within 300 miles of the fa17 cility; 

18 (ii) the loan involved will be used to 

19 increase the capacity in livestock and poul20 try processing in a region; and 

21 (iii) the principal amount of the loan 

22 involved does not exceed $50,000,000. 

23 (C) RURAL AREA DEFINED.—In this para24 graph, the term ‘‘rural area’’ has the meaning 

25 given the term in section 343(a)(13) of the 


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1 Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act 

2 (7 U.S.C. 1991(a)(13)). 

3 (3) LIMITATIONS.— 

4 (A) LIMITATION ON AMOUNT OF LOAN IN5 VOLVED.—A loan of more than $50,000,000 

6 may not be made or guaranteed under this sec7 tion. 

8 (B) LIMITATION ON ELIGIBILITY.—A loan 

9 may not be made or guaranteed under this sec10 tion to an entity that is owned in partnership 

11 or in whole by— 

12 (i) a foreign entity; or 

13 (ii) an entity that currently processes 

14 over 5 percent of the daily harvest of any 

15 species. 

16 (c) SPECIAL RULES APPLICABLE WITH RESPECT TO

17 COOPERATIVES.— 

18 (1) LIMITATION ON AMOUNT OF LOAN IN19 VOLVED.— 

20 (A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding sub21 section (b)(3), a loan of not more than 

22 $100,000,000 may be made or guaranteed for 

23 a cooperative organization under this section. 

24 (B) CONDITIONS APPLICABLE IF LOAN IN25 VOLVED IS FOR MORE THAN $50,000,000.—A 


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1 loan of more than $50,000,000 may not be 

2 made or guaranteed for a cooperative organiza3 tion under this section unless the loan is used 

4 to carry out a project that significantly in5 creases the livestock and poultry processing in 

6 a region, where insufficient processing capacity 

7 exists, as determined by the Secretary. 

8 (2) INTANGIBLE ASSETS.— 

9 (A) IN GENERAL.—In determining whether 

10 a cooperative organization is eligible for a loan 

11 or guarantee under this section, the Secretary 

12 may consider the market value of a properly ap13 praised brand name, patent, or trademark of 

14 the cooperative. 

15 (B) ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE.—In the sole 

16 discretion of the Secretary, if the Secretary de17 termines that the action would not create or 

18 otherwise contribute to an unreasonable risk of 

19 default or loss to the Federal Government, the 

20 Secretary may take accounts receivable as secu21 rity for the obligations entered into in connec22 tion with a loan made or guaranteed under this 

23 section, and a borrower may use accounts re24 ceivable as collateral to secure such a loan. 

25 (3) PURCHASE OF COOPERATIVE STOCK.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may 

2 make or guarantee a loan in accordance with 

3 this section to an individual farmer or rancher 

4 for the purpose of purchasing capital stock of 

5 a farmer or rancher cooperative undertaking an 

6 eligible project under this section. 

7 (B) PROCESSING CONTRACTS DURING INI8 TIAL PERIOD.—A cooperative described in sub9 paragraph (A) with respect to which a farmer 

10 or rancher receives a guarantee to purchase 

11 stock under subparagraph (A) may contract for 

12 services to fulfill any eligible purpose under this 

13 section, during the 5-year period beginning on 

14 the date the cooperative commences operations, 

15 in order to provide adequate time for the plan16 ning and construction of the processing facility 

17 of the cooperative. 

18 (C) FINANCIAL INFORMATION.—A farmer 

19 or rancher from whom the Secretary requires fi20 nancial information as a condition of making or 

21 guaranteeing a loan under subparagraph (A) 

22 shall provide the information in the manner 

23 generally required by commercial agricultural 

24 lenders in the geographical area in which the 

25 farmer or rancher is located. 


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1 (d) CONDITIONS APPLICABLE WITH RESPECT TO

2 USING LOAN INVOLVED FOR REFINANCING.—A borrower 

3 may use 25 percent of a loan made or guaranteed under 

4 this section to refinance a loan made for a purpose de5 scribed in subsection (a) if— 

6 (1) the borrower is current and performing with 

7 respect to the loan to be refinanced; 

8 (2) the borrower has not defaulted on any pay9 ment required to be made with respect to the loan 

10 to be refinanced; 

11 (3) none of the collateral for the loan to be refi12 nanced has been converted; and 

13 (4) there is adequate security or full collateral 

14 for the loan to be refinanced. 

15 (e) LOAN APPRAISAL.—The Secretary may require 

16 that any appraisal made in connection with a loan made 

17 or guaranteed under this section be conducted by a spe18 cialized appraiser that uses standards that are similar to 

19 standards used for similar purposes in the private sector, 

20 as determined by the Secretary. 

21 (f) PREFERENCE.—In making or guaranteeing a loan 

22 under this section, the Secretary shall give a preference 

23 to applicants that have experience in livestock and poultry 

24 processing and can quickly scale-up to increase overall 

25 processing capacity in the region involved. 


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1 (g) LIMITATIONS ON AUTHORIZATION OF APPRO2 PRIATIONS.—There is authorized to be appropriated to 

3 carry out this section $100,000,000 for each of fiscal 

4 years 2024 through 2026. 

5 SEC. 3. NEW AND EXPANDING LIVESTOCK OR MEAT PROC6 ESSING GRANTS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Agriculture may 

8 make grants to— 

9 (1) expand, diversify, and increase capacity in 

10 livestock or poultry processing activities; 

11 (2) improve compliance with livestock and poul12 try processing statutes (including the regulations 

13 issued thereunder), such as the Federal Meat In14 spection Act (21 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) and the Poultry 

15 Products Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 451 et seq.); 

16 (3) identify and reduce barriers to entry for 

17 new livestock and poultry processers; or 

18 (4) update, expand, or otherwise improve exist19 ing facilities. 

20 (b) ELIGIBLE GRANTEES.—An entity shall be eligible 

21 for a grant under this section if the entity is— 

22 (1) a governmental entity; 

23 (2) a public, private, or cooperative organiza24 tion organized on a for-profit or nonprofit basis; or 


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1 (3) an Indian tribe on a Federal or State res2 ervation or any other federally recognized Indian 

3 tribal group. 

4 (c) USE OF FUNDS.—An entity to which a grant is 

5 made under this section may use the grant funds to estab6 lish or support new or expanded livestock or poultry proc7 essing activity, or other activity which will increase the 

8 customer base or revenue returns of livestock and poultry 

9 producers, by undertaking a project that— 

10 (1) identifies and analyzes business opportuni11 ties, including feasibility studies as required for 

12 creditworthiness; 

13 (2) identifies, trains, and provides technical as14 sistance to existing or prospective rural entre15 preneurs and managers or processing facilities; 

16 (3) provides technical assistance to gain compli17 ance with Federal, State, or local regulations; 

18 (4) conducts regional, community, and local 

19 economic development planning and coordination, 

20 and leadership development; or 

21 (5) establishes a center for training, technology, 

22 and trade that will provide training to livestock or 

23 poultry processing employees. 

24 (d) PREFERENCE.—In awarding grants under this 

25 section, the Secretary shall give a preference to applicants 


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1 that have experience in livestock and poultry processing 

2 and can quickly scale-up to increase overall processing ca3 pacity in the region involved. 

4 (e) LIMITATIONS ON AUTHORIZATION OF APPRO5 PRIATIONS.—There is authorized to be appropriated to 

6 carry out this section $20,000,000 for each of fiscal years 

7 2024 through 2026. 

Æ 


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