In response to this development, I and a number of my colleagues in the Senate support a mandatory price report pilot to determine the impact of price reporting on domestic cattle prices. This bill, S. 16, would provide the Secretary of Agriculture the authority to implement such a step on a temporary basis. The Secretary has endorsed this approach, and is requesting the authority to use this tool in combination with existing USDA reporting measures. As a complement to improved price reporting, I also support USDA's request for funding to improving the investigatory and enforcement capabilities of the Grain Inspection , Packers and Stockyards Agency. I strongly support this step, and am hopeful that through the appropriations process these resources will be made available.
Consumers know where every product they buy comes from except the food they feed their families.
This does not make sense. I applaud this action and will be following closely USDA's development of a voluntary label, but I also think we should be prepared to implement something that goes further if it improves information available to consumers. Improving market transparency and price discovery is just one area to address. We should be looking for ways to foster cooperatively-owned businesses, to create opportunities for smaller producers to benefit from production of higher quality meat and meat products, and to even out the information and technology available to sellers and buyers at all levels of the industry. I am committed to identifying steps Congress can take this year to improve opportunities for smaller livestock producers to compete and thrive in the industry, and this hearing is a critical step in that process.