The chairman of the Senate Ag Committee, Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., has joined Ranking Member Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., in introducing bipartisan legislation that would reauthorize mandatory price reporting for five years. This legislation will extend reporting requirements of livestock daily markets and makes two significant changes from existing law. The bill calls for Mandatory Reporting of Wholesale Pork cuts in order to expand transparency to the pork industry and further protect producers. The bill also instructs the Secretary of Agriculture to establish within one year an electronic price reporting system for dairy products.
Mandatory reporting has proven to be a valuable tool for the livestock industry according to Chambliss and Lincoln says Congress needs to act and approve this legislation quickly in order to maintain transparency and certainty in livestock markets. She went on to say that this bill will guarantee transparency of the livestock marketing sector and help improve producers' ability to access fair market prices.
Senator Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, is speaking out in response to the bill. Grassley says it's imperative that this law be extended before it expires or it's likely the packer interests will be playing loose with the numbers and independent producers will be left in the cold. Grassley added that transparency in the market place is critical for fair and accurate reporting.
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