The Iowa Cattlemen?s Association joins many farm groups across the country in welcoming this week?s announcement of a cattle market reform compromise.
Senators Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Deb Fischer (R) of Nebraska, Jon Tester (D) of Montana and Ron Wyden (D) of Oregon on Tuesday said they will soon be introducing the Cattle Price Discovery and Transparency Act. The bill is a compromise between Senator Grassley?s 50/14 cattle market legislation and Fischer?s Cattle Market Transparency Act.
Bob Noble from northern Iowa is President-Elect of the Iowa Cattlemen?s Association. He says ICA was happy to see all four legislators come to an agreement on cattle market reform.
?The initial reaction was just it?s about time,? said Noble. ?We?ve been working on most of the bullet points in this bill for five to six years on some of them. ICA has taken policy for the next day cattle weights to NCBA convention and we?ve taken policy for this contract library to NCBA convention. It?s been a long time coming. I?m not sure all of the details are completely out yet, but we think we have a pretty good feeling for what?s going to be in this bill. The general reaction is we?re excited to finally have something where we can hopefully get it passed, get it into law and get it a part of this livestock reporting bill.?
Noble says the legislation will enhance price discovery and transparency in a number of ways.
?The jewel of the whole thing is the mandatory minimum amount of negotiated cash cattle every week,? said Noble. ?That would be by region. Every region would have a different number as their minimum, but each plant that?s big enough to have to report to USDA has to meet that regional minimum every week. That?s huge for leverage, transparency, and just making that plant buy some cattle in the open market every week.?
In addition to the Iowa Cattlemen?s Association, the following groups have endorsed the bill: Iowa Farm Bureau, American Farm Bureau Federation, National Farmers Union, and U.S. Cattlemen?s Association.
