The Senate last week approved the Agriculture Reauthorizations Act of 2015 (HR 2051), which reauthorizes the mandatory price reporting program, the National Forest Foundation Act and the U.S. Grain Standards Act. The legislation, which will now proceed to the U.S. House of Representatives for consideration, would renew price reporting and grain standards until September 30, 2020. These measures are set to expire on September 30.
The Senate bill would require meat packers to inform USDA about the prices they pay livestock producers for cattle, hogs and lambs, and the prices they receive for wholesale meat cuts. The legislation includes technical changes to swine and lamb reporting that would capture a higher number of transactions and yield more accurate reports. There is also a provision requiring USDA to conduct a study, with input from the livestock and meat community, on the workability of the reporting program prior to the next reauthorization in 2020. The Senate bill does not make livestock mandatory price reporting an essential service that would continue in a government shutdown.
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