Fischer’s bill would bolster price discovery, marketing in U.S. cattle market

U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer (R-NE) on March 2 sponsored bipartisan legislation aimed at restoring transparency and accountability in America’s cattle market.

Sen. Fischer, who serves on the U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee, said the measure “will help facilitate price discovery and provide cattle producers with the information they need to make informed marketing decisions.”

The senator introduced the Cattle Market Transparency Act of 2021, S. 543, with cosponsors including U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), to establish a cattle contract library and regional cash minimums and would equip producers with more market information, according to a three-page summary on the bill provided by Sen. Fischer’s office.

If enacted, S. 543 specifically would establish regional mandatory minimum thresholds of negotiated cash and negotiated grid trades toward ensuring price discovery in cattle marketing regions, according to the summary, and would require the U.S. Agriculture Secretary to establish regionally sufficient levels of negotiated cash and negotiated grid trade, seek public comment on those levels, and then implement them.

Additionally, S. 543 would require the U.S. Department of Agriculture to create and maintain a publicly available library of marketing contracts between packers and producers in a manner that ensures confidentiality, among other provisions, according to the summary.

Sen. Fischer first introduced the bill in 2020, but it expired at the end of the 116th Congress. “I am reintroducing this bill with bipartisan support,” she said on Tuesday. “I am committed to working across the aisle to advance the bill forward this Congress.”

The American Farm Bureau Federation endorsed S. 543, which has been referred for consideration to the U.S. Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee.

According to Sen. Fischer’s office, companion legislation will be introduced by U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler (R-MO) in the U.S. House of Representatives.