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An uncertain path ahead for cattle market legislation

Following hearings in both the US House and the Senate on the price imbalance in the cattle markets, there are still a lot of questions that remain unanswered.

After more than 9 hours of hearings that spanned two days, Ethan Lane with the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association says what happens next is still unclear.  “We know they’re planning to mark up the Special Investigator bill, versions of it, on both sides in the coming weeks,” he says.  “I think there’s more debate to occur on the viability and the path forward on the Fischer/Grassley bill.  Certainly, the sponsors of the bill feel they have the votes to get it out of the Senate Ag Committee, but I don’t know if there’s any horsepower to get it any further than that.”

He tells Brownfield he doesn’t want to miss out on the opportunity to accomplish all the other great things that the bill does, because the cash cattle mandate remains a sticking point.  “Like 14-day delivery and carcass weights, and some of the additional transparency items,” he says.  “In addition to things like the A-PLUS Act that was introduced in the House.  That would unlock the ability for sale barn owners to participate in small packing facilities.”

Lane says while the industry has a captive audience, it’s imperative that some work actually gets done to fix supply chain issues, giving producers more marketing options.

AUDIO: Ethan Lane, NCBA