Senate Bill Targets Improved Cattle Market Transparency

Such measures have been discussed in the industry — even proposed in previous legislation — for months, and now two senators have introduced the Cattle Market Transparency Act of 2021, a bipartisan effort to “restore transparency and accountability in the cattle market” through a few measures. The bill would establish minimum packer purchases of cattle in the regional cash marketplace and “enable price discovery in cattle marketing regions.” It would also create a USDA library of marketing contracts between packers and producers that’s kept confidential but made available on an aggregate basis to the public. Packers would also be required to report daily slaughter numbers and facilitate USDA procedures that ensure that data is kept confidential. The hopes are that the legislation will prevent packer-driven price fluctuations that have an undue influence on ranchers’ market prices through consistent price discovery and market information. See more about the legislation.