GRASSLEY AND HARKIN PRAISE SENATE PASSAGE OF LIVESTOCK MANDATORY PRICE REPORTING
Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Tom Harkin (D-IA) praised the unanimous Senate passage last night of legislation extending the Livestock Price Reporting Act. The Livestock Price Reporting Act requires packers, processors, and importers to provide critical price, contracting, supply and demand information to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), which uses the information to create price reports for livestock producers. The authority for Livestock Mandatory Reporting will expire on September 30 and a Government Accountability Office (GAO) study requested by Senators Harkin and Grassley is expected to be released later this year.
"I'm pleased the Senate has unanimously passed this extension of the Livestock Mandatory Price Reporting Act," said Harkin. "This bill allows livestock producers to continue benefiting from important market information while leaving the door open to constructive changes after the GAO finishes their work."
"The fact that this legislation passed without objection shows the need to wait for the GAO report before proceeding. This gives us an opportunity to take a good, hard look at the report and then make any necessary changes to the original law," Grassley said.
Last year, Harkin and Grassley requested a GAO investigation into the accuracy of reported prices by USDA. The legislation passed today by the Senate would extend mandatory price reporting for one year and will allow changes in the law to be made following the results of the GAO study. The House of Representatives passed its version of the bill today, which extends the law for five years despite the pending GAO examination of the program. Differences between the House and Senate bills will need to be resolved.
Grassley and Harkin pushed for the creation of the law in 1999 to help improve competition and market transparency for livestock producers.