U.S. Sen. John Hoeven (R-ND) earlier this month introduced a bipartisan bill that would establish a trust to benefit all unpaid cash sellers of livestock.
“Our ranchers raise the highest quality cattle in the world, and they deserve certainty when selling their product,” Sen. Hoeven said. “We are advancing this bipartisan legislation to help ensure cattle producers receive the money they are owed. That’s critical to maintaining their operations.”
Sen. Hoeven is an original cosponsor of the Securing All Livestock Equitably (SALE) Act of 2020, S. 3419, with bill sponsor U.S. Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) and nine other cosponsors, including U.S. Sens. Joni Ernst (R-IA), Steve Daines (R-MT), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Jerry Moran (R-KS), and Tina Smith (D-MN).
If enacted, S. 3419 would establish dealer statutory trusts that mirror existing packer statutory trusts to ensure that cattle sellers receive payment if a livestock dealer becomes insolvent, according to a bill summary provided by Sen. Hoeven’s office.
According to the text of the bill, for example, “all livestock purchased by a dealer in cash sales and all inventories of, or receivables or proceeds from, that livestock shall be held by the dealer in trust for the benefit of all unpaid cash sellers of that livestock until full payment has been received by those unpaid cash sellers.”
The North Dakota Farmers Union and the Livestock Marketing Association support S. 3419, which is under consideration by members of the U.S. Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee.