Frustration related to the cattle market has been voiced by our members in recent months, there have been many proposals introduced including a pilot program to establish a contract library and others that have passed recently. Additionally, a new Cattle Market Transparency Act of 2022 has been introduced and varies from the proposals for cattle market transparency in recent legislative sessions.
This Senate bill, S. 4030, is set to have a hearing in the Senate on April 26th. Please reach out to your senators and give them your feedback on the proposal.
Contact information for US Senators can be found here.
Current ICA Policy:
2) Government Intervention In Livestock Markets (New 99, Amended 02; Amended 03; Re-affirmed 21)
Whereas: Market dynamics for beef, lamb, and pork producers are becoming more volatile; and
Whereas: History has shown that marketplace forces of supply and demand have eventually resolved economic imbalances; and
Whereas: Past government interventions such as the Dairy Buyout have negatively affected beef cattle prices and producers by artificially increasing the supply of meat;
Whereas: ICA supports a fair and competitive marketplace;
Therefore, Be It Resolved: That ICA will continue to oppose any artificial intervention measures that interfere with the supply/demand dynamics of the marketplace such as a possible buyout or direct payments to producers;
Be It Further Resolved: That if emergency government measures are deemed appropriate for other livestock species then those measures should be fair and equitable for all species and applied uniformly;
The mandated cash requirements that would be set as a result of this bill constitutes as “artificial intervention measures”, and is in conflict with the position of the ICA Board through direction from the membership in past years. This position was re-affirmed during the 2021 annual convention and we will continue to use this to guide the ICA policy position. It is important that you, as members, also contact our senators and let them know how this could affect your operation individually.
