FORT WORTH, Texas —Texas & Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association applauded the U.S. House of Representatives passage of H.R. 5290 to extend the authorization for Livestock Mandatory Reporting and H.R. 5609, mandating the creation of a cattle contract library.
Livestock Mandatory Reporting, or LMR, is a vital transparency tool producers already have at their disposal and cannot afford to lose. It provides critical market data from meat processors that cattle producers use to make business decisions. Creating a cattle contract library within USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service will incorporate additional transparency into LMR by requiring similar information to be reported on contractual purchases of cattle.
“On behalf of beef producers across the nation, I applaud the House for acting quickly to maintain and expand transparency within the cattle market,” said Hughes Abell, president of Texas & Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association. “Our industry is going through unprecedented times. While meatpackers reap record margins, ranchers struggle to survive.
“There is still much work to be done to address the critical issues of price discovery and packer capacity, but we are encouraged by Congress’ willingness to strengthen transparency in our cattle markets. We look forward to continuing our efforts to finalize these and other new tools, which will ensure American cattle producers can continue raising the beef that feeds our families.”
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