The National Pork Producers Council praised the Senate for its passage today of legislation reauthorizing the livestock mandatory price reporting law, which is set to expire Sept. 30.
The statute requires meat packers to report to the USDA the prices they pay for cattle, hogs and lambs and other information. The USDA publishes twice-daily reports with information on pricing, contracting for purchase, supply and demand conditions for livestock, livestock production and livestock products.
“America’s pork producers are grateful to the Senate for approving legislation to reauthorize the mandatory price reporting law, which provides them and meat packers transparent, accurate and timely market information to make knowledge-based business decisions about selling and buying hogs,” says NPPC President Ron Prestage, a veterinarian and pork producer from Camden, S.C.
Similar to legislation passed by the House in early June, the Senate’s five-year reauthorization measure includes new provisions sought by the U.S. pork industry, including one that establishes a “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 will require that pigs sold after 1:30 p.m. be included in the next morning’s price report.
“Now we need both houses to work out some minor difference in their bills and get this thing to the president’s desk before the law expires at the end of the month,” Prestage adds. “Livestock producers are dependent on these price reports for making informed decisions about transactions. We don’t want or need any disruptions in this vital service.”
The Livestock Mandatory Reporting Act of 1999 changed a voluntary reporting system for hogs, cattle and other livestock at slaughter to a requirement for meat processors to report detailed price and sales data. The law requires packers to submit to the USDA regional and national data on a daily and weekly basis for hogs and similar information for cattle and lambs. It also required the USDA to establish a library of the types of contracts offered by packers to pork producers for the purchase of hogs, including future delivery purchases.
