I
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 921
To direct the Secretary of Agriculture to provide emergency market loss
assistance to swine producers for losses incurred due to economic and
market conditions in the United States beyond their control that occurred
during a three-month period in 1998, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH 2, 1999
Mr. LAHOOD introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Commit-
tee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committee on the Budget, for
a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the com-
mittee concerned
A BILL
To direct the Secretary of Agriculture to provide emergency
market loss assistance to swine producers for losses in-
curred due to economic and market conditions in the
United States beyond their control that occurred during
a three-month period in 1998, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the
‘‘Swine Producers Market Loss Assistance Act of 1999’’.
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of
this Act is as follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Findings and purposes.
Sec. 3. Definitions.
Sec. 4. Market loss assistance.
Sec. 5. Payment amounts and payment limitations.
Sec. 6. Relationship to other payments.
Sec. 7. Emergency requirement; use of Commodity Credit Corporation.
Sec. 8. Mandatory livestock market reporting.
Sec. 9. Regulations.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following:
(1) The marketing relationships of swine pro-
ducers with meat packers have undergone significant
changes in recent years, and these changes have had
an adverse effect on the prices swine producers re-
ceive for swine.
(2) The concentration of the meat packing in-
dustry as it relates to swine slaughter and process-
ing, and the increase in the number of live swine im-
ported into the United States for slaughter and
processing, have had an adverse effect on the avail-
ability of slaughter capacity in the United States
and have adversely affected the price of swine in the
United States.
(3) A swine market price crisis occurred in the
United States during the period beginning on Octo-
ber 1, 1998, through December 31, 1998, which can
be summarized as resting on three salient facts:
(A) A 10 percent increase in swine avail-
able for slaughter during the period.
(B) An eight percent decrease over the
prior year in packer slaughter capacity.
(C) A 37 percent increase in Canadian
swine imports into the United States during the
period.
(4) The fourth quarter of 1998 (adjusted for
inflation) registered the lowest live swine prices in
the United States spot market for the 20th century,
averaging 37 percent lower than 1932.
(5) 
Swine 
producers 
had 
approximately
$2,600,000,000 in equity capital investment reduc-
tion in 1998 in the value of their production owner-
ship.
(6) According to Ron Plain, University of Mis-
souri Extension Economist, swine producers’ share
of the consumer pork dollar was approximately
$0.22 in 1998, and 1998 was the first year since
records have been maintained that swine producers
received less than 30 percent of the consumer dollar
spent for pork and pork products.
(7) Despite relatively little change in retail
prices for pork and pork products, consumption of
pork and pork products increased seven percent in