Fischer offers bill to improve transparency, accountability in nation’s cattle market

U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer (R-NE) on Sept. 22 introduced a bill that would restore transparency and accountability in the nation’s cattle market by ensuring regionally sufficient negotiated cash trade and equipping producers with more information. 

“My legislation seeks to bring transparency and accountability to the cattle market,” Sen. Fischer said. “It will ensure there are a sufficient number of cash transactions to facilitate price discovery and equip producers with more price information to assist them with their marketing decisions.”

Sen. Fischer sponsored the Cattle Market Transparency Act of 2020, S. 4647, which also would amend the Packers and Stockyards Act of 1921 to establish a cattle contract library, according to the text of the bill. 

Specifically, S. 4647 would require the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary to establish and maintain a library or catalog of each type of contract offered by packers to producers for the purchase of all or part of the production of the producers of fed cattle, including any schedules of premiums or discounts associated with the contract, according to the bill’s text.

The information collection would be maintained by the USDA Secretary, which would obtain information from each packer on each type of existing contract of the packer by requiring a filing or other form of information submission from each packer, the bill says.

“Cattle market transparency – specifically, fed cattle market price discovery – has been a headline issue for Nebraska Cattlemen members over the majority of the past decade,” said Ken Herz, president of Nebraska Cattlemen. “Items in Senator Fischer’s bill, such as the cattle contract library… will aid in increasing cattle market transparency for all producers. We sincerely thank Senator Fisher for her work on this important issue to Nebraska Cattlemen members.”

Steve Nelson, president of the Nebraska Farm Bureau, also thanked Sen. Fischer and said the proposal is a positive step in identifying actions to address concerns and challenges surrounding cattle markets.

“Many of the areas identified in Senator Fischer’s legislation match up with recommendations offered by the Nebraska Farm Bureau’s Cattle Markets Task Force,” Nelson said. “We look forward to working with Senator Fischer to enact change in cattle markets that will lead to positive outcomes for our state’s beef producers.”