The House Agriculture Committee held a hearing on Oct. 7 to review the state of the livestock industry.
The committee heard from ranchers, packers, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and other lawmakers.
Many of those whose testified before the committee said processing capacity, primarily for the beef industry, was a critical need.
Vilsack discussed the $100 million loan guarantee program launched by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) earlier this week to help small processors expand capacity. He also noted USDA is reviewing over 500 comments to determine how the $500 million will be allocated to help expand meat and other food-processing capacity.
Sen. Charles Grassley also testified before the committee, asking for support of his bill, known as the 50/14 bill. It would mandate packers purchase a minimum of 50% of their weekly needs in the cash market and expected delivery would be within 14 days.
“It’s the first time in modern history that a sitting senator has come across the Capitol to the House side to testify in front of a committee. Sen. Grassley has an effort around mandatory minimum negotiated trade and he plead his case in front of the committee,” Scott Bennet, American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) Congressional Relations director, said. “We also had Secretary Vilsack discuss what USDA is doing in regard to the livestock industry, including the $500 million for small and regional packing capacity expansion.”
Bennett noted the hearing included a discussion on anticipated Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration pending rules.
“There are three anticipated rules from USDA. One will involve undue preference. One will involve competition, and the third, that is relatively new, will involve the tournament pay system in poultry,” Bennett said. “Secretary Vilsack, in his testimony, said we could anticipate those rules by the end of this year.”
Farm Bureau is working on other issues for farmers and ranchers, as well.
“We have been working on behalf of farmers and ranchers for quite some time regarding the extension and authorization of Livestock Mandatory Reporting,” he said. “We have also been advocating for the new swine inspection system so that it can operate for pork processors as it has for many years.”