Legislation has been introduced in the House to reform the cattle market in response to systematic issues resulting from COVID-19 and the Tyson plant fire in Holcomb, Kansas. South Dakota Congressman Dusty Johnson helped introduce the PRICE Act, a bill that will increase cattle market transparency, improve risk management and support new and expanding meat processors to avoid supply chain disruptions that took place during the pandemic.
Johnson says the PRICE Act would increase price transparency by updating the Packers and Stockyards Act and creating a cattle contract library.
The legislation also directs USDA to provide Congress the cost-benefit and feasibility of ways to enhance price discovery through mandatory price reporting, which will be reauthorized next year.
The PRICE Act is the response to a report USDA released after their market investigation, which identified many of these problems and remedies. So far there’s no companion legislation in the Senate, but it is supported by NCBA and Farm Bureau.
