The Senate has passed legislation to reauthorize Mandatory Price Reporting for five years for beef, pork and lamb. For pork, the legislation includes a new “Negotiated-Formula” price category to better reflect the total number of hogs negotiated each day regardless of how buyers and sellers arrive at the prices.

Another provision requires that pigs sold after 1:30 p.m. be included in the next morning’s price report. MPR requires packers to report to the USDA the prices paid to livestock producers for cattle, hogs and lambs and the prices they receive for wholesale meat cuts. The House passed MPR legislation earlier this year. Now the House and Senate have to resolve the differences or MPR expires on Sept. 30.

The major difference between the House-passed legislation and the Senate bill is how MPR would be treated during a government shutdown. The Senate bill does not include emergency authority for reporting during a government shutdown. The House legislation deems the price reports an essential service, guaranteeing they would continue during a government shutdown.