000341 USDA Proposes Livestock Price Rules

Washington - Meatpackers will soon be required to disclose the prices they are paying for livestock, under rules proposed Tuesday by the Agriculture Department.

The new program, which was authorized last year by Congress, is intended to give cattle, hog and sheep producers more leverage in bargaining with processors.

“We need to ensure that small farmers and ranchers have a full and fair opportunity to compete in an increasingly concentrated agricultural economy,” Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman said. “This new mandatory price reporting program will help producers by making the market more transparent, giving them better information about what's happening in the marketplace.”

The pricing data are to be reported to USDA at certain times of the day. In addition to livestock, purchases of imported lamb cuts also will be covered by the reporting requirement. The department is seeking input from producers and processors on how to report the data back to the industry.

USDA officials say they expect to have the system operational by this summer.

RETURN TO HOME PAGE

E-mail: sflanagan@sprintmail.com