Cattle Price Discovery and Transparency Act of 2022

Bill: 117-s-4030
Sponsor: Sen. Fischer, Deb [R-NE]
Introduced: 2022-04-07 in the Senate
Policy area: Agriculture and Food
Subjects: Agricultural marketing and promotion
Agricultural prices, subsidies, credit
Civil actions and liability
Contracts and agency
Food industry and services
Government information and archives
Livestock
Mammals
Meat

Summary:
action_date: 2022-04-07
text: 

Cattle Price Discovery and Transparency Act of 2022

 
 This bill requires the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to take various actions to address transparency in contract terms and pricing in the cattle industry. 
 
Among these requirements, USDA must maintain a publicly available library or catalog of contracts entered into between meat packers and livestock producers for the purchase of cattle, including any schedules of premiums or discounts associated with the contracts and other specific details. USDA must make this information available to producers and other interested parties in a monthly report. 
 
The bill further requires USDA to establish five to seven regions encompassing the entire continental United States that reasonably reflect similar fed cattle purchase practices for processing plants and establish mandatory minimums for each region (i.e., the minimum percentage of cattle purchases that are required to be made through approved pricing mechanisms from producers that are not packers). 
 
Under the bill, 
approved pricing mechanisms
 are generally purchases of fed cattle made through a negotiated purchase, through a negotiated grid purchase, at a stockyard, or through trading systems or platforms where multiple buyers and sellers can regularly make and accept bids and offers. 
 
The bill also establishes a maximum penalty for mandatory minimum violations by covered packers. Under the bill, 
a covered packer
 is a packer that has slaughtered an average of 5% or more of the number of fed cattle slaughtered nationally during the immediately preceding five calendar years. 

action_date: 2022-07-11
text: 

Cattle Price Discovery and Transparency Act of 2022

 
This bill requires the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to take various actions to address transparency in contract terms and pricing in the cattle industry. 
 
Among these requirements, USDA must maintain a publicly available library or catalog of contracts entered into between meat packers and livestock producers for the purchase of cattle, including any schedules of premiums or discounts associated with the contracts and other specific details. USDA must make this information available to producers and other interested parties in a monthly report. 
 
The bill further requires USDA to establish five to seven regions encompassing the entire continental United States that reasonably reflect similar fed cattle purchase practices for processing plants and establish mandatory minimums for each region (i.e., the minimum percentage of cattle purchases that are required to be made through approved pricing mechanisms from producers that are not packers).
 
Under the bill, 
approved pricing mechanisms 
are generally purchases of fed cattle made through a negotiated purchase, through a negotiated grid purchase, at a stockyard, or through trading systems or platforms where multiple buyers and sellers can regularly make and accept bids and offers. 
 
The bill also establishes a maximum penalty for mandatory minimum violations by covered packers. Under the bill, a 
covered packer
 is a packer that has slaughtered an average of 5% or more of the number of fed cattle slaughtered nationally during the immediately preceding five calendar years.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2022-07-11
text: Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 437.
action_date: 2022-07-11
text: Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry. Reported by Senator Stabenow with an amendment. Without written report.
action_date: 2022-07-11
text: Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry. Reported by Senator Stabenow with an amendment. Without written report.
action_date: 2022-06-22
text: Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry. Ordered to be reported with an amendment favorably.
action_date: 2022-04-26
text: Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry. Hearings held.
action_date: 2022-04-07
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
action_date: 2022-04-07
text: Introduced in Senate