Last week Congress passed an Omnibus Appropriations bill which contained an extension of Livestock Mandatory Reporting through September.  However, the Cattle Price Discovery and Transparency Act was not attached.  Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley is the co-author of that legislation with Nebraska’s Deb Fischer and he says he’s still encouraged about moving the legislation separate from livestock price reporting.

Grassley says the cattle market reform bill is gaining support with nine Republican and eight Democratic co-sponsors.  Plus, it’s still on track for floor time in the Senate, which is key.

He says they’ve also been working with USDA on technical modifications to the bill.

So Grassley thinks the legislation has a good chance of passage in the coming weeks.

Also passed in the Omnibus Appropriations package was a Cattle Contract Library pilot program, and critical tool to increase market transparency for cattle producers.  Plus the Electronic Logging Device exemption for livestock haulers.