Cattle Price Discovery and Transparency Act of 2021
This bill requires the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to take various actions to address transparency in pricing and contract terms in the cattle industry.
Among these requirements, USDA must (1) establish regional minimum percentages of cattle that meat packers must procure through negotiated purchases or negotiated grid purchases (i.e., transactions where the price is known and negotiated at the time of the transaction), and (2) maintain a publicly available catalog of contracts offered by meat packers to livestock producers for the purchase of fed cattle.
[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5992 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
117th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 5992
To amend the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 to establish a cattle
contract library, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
November 17, 2021
Mrs. Axne (for herself, Mr. Feenstra, Mrs. Hinson, Mrs. Miller-Meeks,
Mrs. Hartzler, and Mr. Fortenberry) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 to establish a cattle
contract library, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Cattle Price Discovery and
Transparency Act of 2021''.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
(a) In General.--Section 212 of the Agricultural Marketing Act of
1946 (7 U.S.C. 1635a) is amended--
(1) in paragraph (5), by striking ``cattle,'' and inserting
``cattle (including fed cattle),'';
(2) by redesignating paragraphs (4), (5), (6), (7), (8),
(9), (10), (11), (12), (13), and (14) as paragraphs (5), (6),
(7), (8), (10), (11), (12), (13), (15), (16), and (17),
respectively;
(3) by inserting after paragraph (3) the following:
``(4) Fed cattle.--The term `fed cattle' means a steer or
heifer that has been finished on a ration of roughage and feed
concentrates, such as grains, protein meal, grass (forage), and
other nutrient-rich feeds, prior to slaughter.'';
(4) by inserting after paragraph (8) (as so redesignated)
the following:
``(9) Negotiated grid purchase.--The term `negotiated grid
purchase' means a purchase of fed cattle by a packer from a
producer under which--
``(A) the buyer-seller interaction results in a
negotiated base price, which may be adjusted by
premiums and discounts; and
``(B) the fed cattle are scheduled for delivery to
the packer not more than 14 days after the date on
which the agreement for purchase is made.''; and
(5) by inserting after paragraph (13) (as so redesignated)
the following:
``(14) Regional mandatory minimum.--The term `regional
mandatory minimum' means, for each reporting region (as
designated by the Agricultural Marketing Service), of the
quantity of cattle purchased for slaughter by a packer (as
defined in section 259(a)) in that region each current
slaughter week, the minimum percentage of such cattle that are
required to be purchased through negotiated purchases or
negotiated grid purchases from producers.''.
(b) Cattle Reporting Definitions.--Section 221 of the Agricultural
Marketing Act of 1946 (7 U.S.C. 1635d) is amended--
(1) by striking paragraph (3) and inserting the following:
``(3) Formula marketing arrangement.--The term `formula
marketing arrangement' means the advance commitment of cattle
for slaughter--
``(A) by any means other than through a negotiated
purchase, negotiated grid purchase, or forward
contract; and
``(B) using a method for calculating price--
``(i) under which the price is determined
at a future date; and
``(ii) the basis of which is a price
established for a specified market, which may
be based on any publicly reported price,
including plant average price, regional price,
downstream price, or some other mutually
agreeable price source.'';
(2) in paragraph (8)(B), by striking ``market'' and
inserting ``marketing'';
(3) by redesignating paragraphs (3), (4), (5), (6), (7),
and (8) as paragraphs (4), (5), (7), (8), (10), and (12),
respectively;
(4) by inserting after paragraph (2) the following:
``(3) Contract.--
``(A) In general.--The term `contract' means any
agreement, written or oral, between a packer and a
producer for the purchase of fed cattle for slaughter.
``(B) Exclusion.--The term `contract' does not
include a contract for a negotiated purchase.'';
(5) by inserting after paragraph (5) (as so redesignated)
the following:
``(6) Heifer.--The term `heifer' means a bovine female that
has not given birth to a calf.'';
(6) by inserting after paragraph (8) (as so redesignated)
the following:
``(9) Steer.--The term `steer' means a bovine male
castrated before reaching sexual maturity.''; and
(7) by inserting after paragraph (10) (as so redesignated)
the following:
``(11) Type of contract.--
``(A) In general.--The term `type of contract'
means the classification of a contract for the purchase
of cattle--
``(i) into 1 of the categories described in
subparagraph (B); and
``(ii) by determining the base price of the
cattle.
``(B) Categories.--The categories for
classification of a type of contract are the following:
``(i) Formula marketing arrangement.
``(ii) Forward contract.
``(iii) Negotiated grid purchase
contract.''.
SEC. 3. 14-DAY CATTLE SLAUGHTER.
(a) Definition of Cattle Committed.--Section 221(1) of the
Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 (7 U.S.C. 1635d(1)) is amended by
striking ``7-day'' and inserting ``14-day''.
(b) Mandatory Reporting for Live Cattle.--Section 222(c) of the
Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 (7 U.S.C. 1635e(c)) is amended--
(1) in paragraph (1)--
(A) by striking subparagraphs (B) and (C); and
(B) by redesignating subparagraph (D) as
subparagraph (B);
(2) in paragraph (2), by striking ``the information'' and
inserting ``information reported under this subsection'';
(3) by redesignating paragraph (2) as paragraph (3); and
(4) by inserting after paragraph (1) the following:
``(2) Prior day reporting.--
``(A) In general.--The corporate officers or
officially designated representatives of each packer
processing plant shall report to the Secretary, for
each business day of the packer processing plant, not
later than 10:00 a.m. Central Time on each reporting
day, the information from the prior business day
described in subparagraph (B).
``(B) Information required.--The information
required under subparagraph (A) shall be, with respect
to the prior business day, the number of cattle,
organized by cattle type, scheduled for delivery to a
packer processing plant for slaughter for each of the
next 14 calendar days.''.
SEC. 4. DAILY FORMULA BASE PRICE REPORTING.
Section 222(c)(1)(A) of the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 (7
U.S.C. 1635e(c)(1)(A)) is amended in the matter preceding clause (i) by
inserting ``(including base price information for cattle purchased
through a formula marketing arrangement)'' after ``day''.
SEC. 5. EXPEDITED CARCASS WEIGHTS REPORTING.
Section 222 of the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 (7 U.S.C.
1635e) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(f) Expedited Carcass Weights.--
``(1) Determination.--Not later than 180 days after the
date of enactment of the Cattle Price Discovery and
Transparency Act of 2021, the Secretary shall determine the
minimum amount of time needed by the Secretary to publicly
report the daily average carcass weight of cattle slaughtered
by packer processing plants.
``(2) Reporting.--Not later than 180 days after the
Secretary has made a determination under paragraph (1), the
Secretary shall begin publicly reporting the information
described in that paragraph within the time determined under
that paragraph.''.
SEC. 6. CATTLE CONTRACT LIBRARY.
Chapter 2 of subtitle B of the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946
is amended--
(1) by redesignating section 223 (7 U.S.C. 1635f) as
section 224; and
(2) by inserting after section 222 (7 U.S.C. 1635e) the
following:
``SEC. 223. CATTLE CONTRACT LIBRARY.
``(a) In General.--Subject to the availability of appropriations to
carry out this section, the Secretary shall establish and maintain,
through the Livestock Mandatory Price Reporting program, a library or
catalog of each type of contract offered by packers to producers for
the purchase of all or part of the production of the producers of fed
cattle (including cattle that are purchased or committed for delivery),
including any schedules of premiums or discounts associated with the
contract.
``(b) Information Collection.--
``(1) In general.--To maintain the library or catalog
established under subsection (a), the Secretary shall obtain
information from each packer on each type of existing contract
of the packer by requiring a filing or other form of
information submission from each packer.
``(2) Contracted cattle information.--Information submitted
to the Secretary by a packer under paragraph (1) shall include,
with respect to each existing contract of a packer--
``(A) the type of contract;
``(B) the duration of the contract;
``(C) a summary of the contract terms;
``(D) provisions in the contract that may affect
the price of cattle covered by the contract, including
schedules, premiums and discounts, and transportation
arrangements;
``(E) the total number of cattle covered by the
contract solely committed to the packer each week
within the 6-month and 12-month periods following the
date of the contract, organized by reporting region;
``(F) in the case of a contract in which a specific
number of cattle are not solely committed to the
packer--
``(i) an indication that the contract is an
open commitment; and
``(ii) any weekly, monthly, annual, or
other limitations on the number of cattle that
may be delivered to the packer under the
contract; and
``(G) a description of the provisions in the
contract that provide for expansion in the numbers of
fed cattle to be delivered under the contract for the
6-month and 12-month periods following the date of the
contract.
``(c) Availability of Information.--
``(1) In general.--The Secretary shall make publicly
available to producers and other interested persons information
(including the information described in subsection (b)(2)), in
a user-friendly format, on the types of contracts in the
library or catalog established under subsection (a), including
notice (on a real-time basis, if practicable) of the types of
contracts that are being offered by packers to, and are open to
acceptance by, producers for the purchase of fed cattle.
``(2) Monthly report.--
``(A) In general.--Beginning 30 days after the
library or catalog is established under subsection (a),
the Secretary shall make the information obtained each
month in the library or catalog available in a monthly
report to producers and other interested persons.
``(B) Contents.--The monthly report described in
subparagraph (A) shall include--
``(i) based on the information collected
under subsection (b)(2)(E), an estimate by the
Secretary of the total number of fed cattle
committed under contracts for delivery to
packers within the 6-month and 12-month periods
following the date of the report, organized by
reporting region and type of contract;
``(ii) based on the information collected
under subsection (b)(2)(F), the number of
contracts with an open commitment and any
weekly, monthly, annual, or other limitations
on the number of cattle that may be delivered
under such contracts; and
``(iii) based on the information collected
under subsection (b)(2)(G), an estimate by the
Secretary of the total maximum number of fed
cattle that may be delivered within the 6-month
and 12-month periods following the date of the
report, organized by reporting region and type
of contract.
``(d) Maintenance of Library or Catalog.--Information in the
library or catalog established under subsection (a) about types of
contracts that are no longer offered or in use shall be removed from
the library or catalog.
``(e) Confidentiality.--The reporting requirements for packers
under this section shall be subject to the confidentiality protections
provided under section 251.
``(f) Violations.--It shall be unlawful and a violation of this Act
for any packer to willfully fail or refuse--
``(1) to provide to the Secretary accurate information
required under this section; or
``(2) to comply with any other requirement of this section.
``(g) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be
appropriated to the Secretary such sums as are necessary to carry out
this section.''.
SEC. 7. PUBLIC AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION.
Section 251(a) of the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 (7 U.S.C.
1636(a)) is amended--
(1) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and (2) as
subparagraphs (A) and (B), respectively, and indenting
appropriately;
(2) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A) (as so
redesignated), by striking ``The Secretary shall make available
to the public information'' and inserting the following:
``(1) In general.--The Secretary shall make available to
the public all information''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
``(2) Effect.--Nothing in this section permits the
Secretary, or any officer or employee of the Secretary, to
withhold from the public the information, statistics, and
documents described in paragraph (1).''.
SEC. 8. CASH MARKET ACQUISITION OF CATTLE.
(a) Sense of the House of Representatives.--It is the sense of the
House of Representatives that--
(1) all participants in the fed cattle market have a
responsibility to contribute to regionally sufficient levels of
negotiated trade of fed cattle in all cattle feeding regions in
order to achieve robust price discovery; and
(2) the Department of Agriculture should examine existing
academic literature regarding minimum levels of cash
transactions necessary to achieve robust price discovery and
enhance cattle producer leverage in the marketplace in each of
the cattle marketing regions.
(b) Amendment.--Chapter 5 of subtitle B of the Agricultural
Marketing Act of 1946 (7 U.S.C. 1636 et seq.) is amended--
(1) by redesignating sections 259 and 260 as sections 260
and 261, respectively; and
(2) by inserting after section 258 the following:
``SEC. 259. REGIONAL MANDATORY MINIMUMS FOR NEGOTIATED PURCHASES AND
NEGOTIATED GRID PURCHASES.
``(a) Definition of Packer.--
``(1) In general.--In this section, the term `packer' has
the meaning given the term in section 221.
``(2) Exclusion.--In this section, the term `packer' does
not include a packer that slaughters cattle at only 1 livestock
processing plant.
``(b) Establishment.--
``(1) In general.--Not later than 2 years after the date of
enactment of the Cattle Price Discovery and Transparency Act of
2021, the Secretary, in consultation with the Chief Economist,
shall establish--
``(A) regional mandatory minimums for the purpose
of enhancing price discovery, transparency, and cattle
producer leverage for cattle market participants; and
``(B) methods for establishing those regional
mandatory minimums, which shall be publicly available.
``(2) Purchases.--A packer shall, with respect to a packer
processing plant, purchase by negotiated purchase or negotiated
grid purchase the percentage of cattle required by the regional
mandatory minimum established for the region in which the
packer processing plant is located.
``(c) Public Input.--In carrying out subsection (b), the Secretary
shall make all proposed regional mandatory minimums and proposed
methods for establishing those minimums subject to a notice and comment
period.
``(d) Duration.--Regional mandatory minimums established for each
reporting region under subsection (b)(1) shall be applicable for not
more than a 24-month period.
``(e) Considerations.--In carrying out subsection (b) for each
reporting region, the Secretary, in consultation with the Chief
Economist, shall consider the following factors:
``(1) The number of packers in the reporting region.
``(2) The availability of cattle in the reporting region.
``(3) Pre-existing contractual arrangements of packers in
the reporting region.
``(4) The number of pricing transactions (pens of cattle
sold) in the reporting region.
``(f) Initial Requirement.--
``(1) In general.--Subject to paragraph (2), the initial
regional mandatory minimums established for each reporting
region under subsection (b)(1) shall be not less than the
average percentage of negotiated purchases and negotiated grid
purchases in that region from the preceding 18 months.
``(2) Requirement.--No initial regional mandatory minimum
established for a reporting region under paragraph (1) shall
exceed 300 percent of the lowest initial regional mandatory
minimum established under that paragraph for a region that has
publicly reported a majority of weekly market information
during the previous 18 months.
``(g) Biannual Review.--On establishing regional mandatory minimums
under subsection (b)(1), the Secretary--
``(1) shall review the regional mandatory minimums not less
frequently than once every 2 years; and
``(2) shall, in consultation with the Chief Economist--
``(A) maintain existing regional mandatory
minimums; or
``(B) modify the regional mandatory minimums
after--
``(i) consulting with representatives of
the United States cattle and beef industry; and
``(ii) making the proposed modification
subject to a notice and comment period.
``(h) Enforcement.--On establishing regional mandatory minimums
under subsection (b)(1), the Secretary shall--
``(1) regularly monitor compliance by packers with those
regional mandatory minimums; and
``(2) enforce this section in accordance with section 203
of the Packers and Stockyards Act, 1921 (7 U.S.C. 193).
``(i) Cost-Benefit Analysis.--Not later than 2 years after
establishing regional mandatory minimums under subsection (b)(1), the
Secretary, in consultation with the Chief Economist, shall conduct a
quantifiable, data-driven cost-benefit analysis regarding the operation
and effect of those regional mandatory minimums.
``(j) Application.--This section shall apply only with respect to
the reporting regions designated by the Agricultural Marketing
Service.''.
SEC. 9. MAXIMUM PENALTY AMOUNT.
The Secretary of Agriculture shall revise section 3.91(b)(1)(lvi)
of title 7, Code of Federal Regulations (or a successor regulation), to
establish a maximum civil penalty of $86,156, which shall be adjusted
for inflation in the same manner and to the same extent as civil
monetary penalties under the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation
Adjustment Act of 1990 (28 U.S.C. 2461 note).
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Agriculture.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Livestock and Foreign Agriculture.
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