Grassley: Extending Mandatory Price Reporting Law Critical for Fair Livestock Markets

Press Release

Senator Chuck Grassley today joined the chairman and ranking member of the Senate Agriculture Committee to keep a fair and level playing field for independent producers in the livestock markets.

"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 across Iowa will be left in the cold," Grassley said. "Transparency in the market place is critical for fair and accurate reporting."

The mandatory price reporting legislation will extend reporting requirements of livestock daily markets for five years and makes three changes to existing law. The new bill calls for mandatory reporting of wholesale pork cuts to help expand transparency to the pork industry and provide additional protection to producers. In addition, it adds pork to the list of commodities whose exports must be reported. The bill also instructs the Secretary of Agriculture to establish within one year an electronic price reporting system for dairy products.

Grassley said that concerned Iowa livestock producers were a major a factor in passing the original law in 1999. Since then, Grassley has sought to improve the law to increase integrity and accountability of the reported prices.

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