Title: Cattle Contract Library Act of 2021
Policy area: Agriculture and Food

Summary:
Cattle Contract Library Act of 2021
This bill directs the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to establish and maintain a library or catalog of each type of contract offered by packers to producers for the purchase of all or part of the production of fed cattle (including cattle that are purchased or committed for delivery), including any schedules of premiums or discounts associated with the contract.
USDA must make the library or catalog publicly available in a user-friendly format and provide weekly or monthly reports as applicable.
The bill makes it unlawful for any packer to willfully fail or refuse to provide USDA with accurate contractual information or to comply with any other requirements under the bill.
The Agricultural Marketing Service must provide competitive grants to state agricultural experiment stations, universities, national laboratories, and other entities for producer outreach and education efforts on best uses of cattle market information, including information made available through the livestock mandatory reporting program and the library or catalog.

[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5609 Introduced in House (IH)]

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117th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 5609

To amend the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946, to establish a cattle 
               contract library, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 19, 2021

 Mr. Johnson of South Dakota (for himself, Mr. Cuellar, Mr. Mann, Mr. 
 Lucas, Mr. Allen, Mrs. Hinson, Mr. Armstrong, Mr. Smith of Missouri, 
Mr. Kelly of Mississippi, Ms. Craig, Mrs. Fischbach, Mrs. Miller-Meeks, 
  Mr. Hagedorn, Mr. Rouzer, Mrs. Hartzler, Mr. Smith of Nebraska, Ms. 
  Spanberger, and Mr. Soto) introduced the following bill; which was 
                referred to the Committee on Agriculture

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946, to establish a cattle 
               contract library, and for other purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Cattle Contract Library Act of 
2021''.

SEC. 2. CATTLE CONTRACT LIBRARY.

    Chapter 2 of subtitle B of the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 
(7 U.S.C. 1635d et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 224. CATTLE CONTRACT LIBRARY.

    ``(a) In General.--Not later than 90 days after the enactment of 
this Act, the Secretary shall establish and maintain a library or 
catalog of each type of contract offered by packers to producers for 
the purchase of all or part of the producers' production of fed cattle 
(including cattle that are purchased or committed for delivery), 
including any schedules of premiums or discounts associated with the 
contract.
    ``(b) Information Collection.--
            ``(1) In general.--To maintain the library or catalog 
        established under subsection (a), the Secretary shall obtain 
        information from each packer on each type of contract of the 
        packer by requiring a filing or other form of information 
        submission from each packer.
            ``(2) Contracted cattle information.--Information submitted 
        to the Secretary by a packer under paragraph (1) shall include, 
        with respect to each contract of a packer--
                    ``(A) the type of contract;
                    ``(B) the duration of the contract;
                    ``(C) all contract summary information;
                    ``(D) provisions in the contract that may affect 
                the price of cattle covered by the contract including--
                            ``(i) base price;
                            ``(ii) schedules of premiums or discounts; 
                        and
                            ``(iii) transportation arrangements;
                    ``(E) the total number of cattle covered by the 
                contract solely committed to the packer each week 
                within the 6-month and 12-month periods following the 
                date of the contract, by reporting region;
                    ``(F) in the case of a contract in which a specific 
                number of cattle are not solely committed to the 
                packer--
                            ``(i) an indication that the contract is an 
                        open commitment; and
                            ``(ii) any weekly, monthly, annual, or 
                        other limitations on the number of cattle that 
                        may be delivered to the packer under the 
                        contract; and
                    ``(G) a description of the provisions in the 
                contract that provide for expansion in the committed 
                numbers of fed cattle to be delivered under the 
                contract for the 6-month and 12-month periods following 
                the date of the contract.
    ``(c) Availability of Information.--
            ``(1) Library contents.--The Secretary shall make publicly 
        available in a user-friendly format a summary of the 
        information collected for each type of contract under 
        subsection (b), including notice (on a real-time basis, if 
        practicable) of the types of contracts that are being offered 
        by packers to, and are open to acceptance by, producers for the 
        purchase of fed cattle.
            ``(2) Reports required.--Beginning not later than 30 days 
        after the date on which the library or catalog is established 
        under subsection (a), the Secretary shall make publicly 
        available weekly or monthly reports for producers and other 
        interested persons, which shall include--
                    ``(A) based on the information collected under 
                subsection (b)(2)(E), the total number of fed cattle 
                committed under contracts for delivery to packers 
                within the 6-month and 12-month periods following the 
                date of the report, organized by reporting region and 
                type of contract;
                    ``(B) based on the information collected under 
                subsection (b)(2)(F), the number of contracts with an 
                open commitment along with any weekly, monthly, annual 
                or other limitations on the number of cattle that may 
                be delivered under such contracts; and
                    ``(C) based on the information collected under 
                subsection (b)(2)(G), the total maximum number of fed 
                cattle that may be delivered within the 6-month and 12-
                month periods following the date of the report, 
                organized by reporting region and type of contract.
    ``(d) Maintenance of Library or Catalog.--Information in the 
library or catalog established under subsection (a) about types of 
contracts that are no longer offered or in use shall be labeled as 
inactive in the library or catalog.
    ``(e) Confidentiality.--The publication of information under this 
section shall be subject to the confidentiality protections provided 
under section 251 of the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 (7 U.S.C. 
1636).
    ``(f) Violations.--It shall be unlawful and a violation of this Act 
for any packer to willfully fail or refuse--
            ``(1) to provide to the Secretary accurate information 
        required under this section; or
            ``(2) to comply with any other requirement of this section.
    ``(g) Producer Education Grants.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Secretary, acting through the 
        Administrator of the Agricultural Marketing Service and in 
        coordination with the Director of the National Institute of 
        Food and Agriculture, shall make competitive grants to eligible 
        entities for producer outreach and education efforts on best 
        uses of cattle market information, including information made 
        available through the livestock mandatory reporting program and 
        the catalog or library established under subsection (a).
            ``(2) Selection criteria.--In selecting grant recipients 
        under this section, the Secretary shall give priority to 
        eligible entities that--
                    ``(A) demonstrate an ability to work directly with 
                cattle producers;
                    ``(B) can quickly and accurately publish and 
                disseminate information and analysis of relevant 
                Department of Agriculture data in a manner that 
                benefits producer decision making; and
                    ``(C) collaborate with trade associations or other 
                organizations with a demonstrated ability to provide 
                educational programs on markets and risk management.
            ``(3) Eligible entity.--The term `eligible entity' means an 
        entity listed in subsection (b)(7) of the Competitive, Special, 
        and Facilities Research Grant Act (7 U.S.C. 3157(b)(7)).
    ``(h) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to the Secretary such sums as are necessary to carry out 
this section.''.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    Section 221 of the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 (7 U.S.C. 
1635d) is amended--
            (1) by amending paragraph (3) to read as follows:
            ``(3) Formula marketing arrangement.--The term `formula 
        marketing arrangement' means the advance commitment of cattle 
        for slaughter--
                    ``(A) by any means other than through a negotiated 
                purchase, negotiated grid purchase, or a forward 
                contract; and
                    ``(B) using a method for calculating price under 
                which the price is determined at a future date.'';
            (2) by redesignating paragraphs (5), (6), (7), and (8) as 
        paragraphs (6), (7), (8), and (10), respectively;
            (3) by inserting after paragraph (4) the following:
            ``(5) Negotiated grid purchase.--The term `negotiated grid 
        purchase' means a purchase of fed cattle by a packer from a 
        producer under which--
                    ``(A) the base price for the cattle is determined 
                by seller-buyer interaction on a day;
                    ``(B) the cattle are scheduled for delivery to the 
                packer not more than 14 days after the date on which 
                the agreement for purchase is made; and
                    ``(C) the base price is subject to adjustment by 
                premiums and discounts after delivery.''; and
            (4) by inserting after paragraph (8) the following:
            ``(9) Type of contract.--The term `type of contract' means 
        the classification of contracts for the purchase of fed cattle 
        based on the mechanism used to determine the base price for the 
        fed cattle committed to a packer under the contract, including 
        formula purchases, negotiated grid purchases, forward 
        contracts, and other purchase agreements, as determined by the 
        Secretary.''.
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