(MAY 6, 2020) – Momentum continues to build for the proposal to require a minimum percentage of cash negotiated cattle to be bought by each U.S. meat processing facility that is large enough to report to USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS). U.S. Cattlemen’s Association (USCA) President Brooke Miller issued the following statement: “Nearly 4,000 individual producers have signed on in …
Bipartisan Letter Urges HOS Reform in Surface Transportation Reauthorization
(APRIL 30) – U.S. Senators John Hoeven and Michael Bennet led a bipartisan letter this week to Senate Commerce Committee leaders requesting consideration of hours-of-service rules (HOS) reform for livestock haulers within surface transportation reauthorization legislation. The letter states,”…in the absence of congressional action, the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act (Public Law 114-94) is set to expire on September …
President Trump Utilizes Authority Under Defense Production Act to Keep Meatpacking Plants Open
(APRIL 29) – On Tuesday, President Donald J. Trump issued an executive order which invoked his authority under the Defense Production Act to secure the food supply chain during the current national emergency caused by COVID-19. The executive order signed late Tuesday afternoon at the White House specifically directs Secretary Sonny Perdue to “take all appropriate action under that section …
MEMBER ALERT: Truth in Labeling Update
(APRIL 27) – In 2015, USCA Director Emeritus Leo McDonnell testified in front of the Senate Agriculture Committee against the repeal of mandatory country-of-origin labeling. USCA knew at that time that if the program were to be stripped clean from the books at USDA, there would be no recourse for packers claiming the “Product of the U.S.A.” label on imported …
MEMBER ALERT: CFTC Agricultural Advisory Committee Meeting
(April 21, 2020) – The Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s Agricultural Advisory Committee (AAC) will hold a public meeting on Wednesday, April 22, 2020, at 3:00 p.m. EDT via teleconference. U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue will address the meeting, which will focus primarily on the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic and its impact on agricultural commodity markets. “Agriculture, like so many sectors …
MEMBER ALERT: Minimum Negotiated Cash Trade
USCA is leading the effort to designate a minimum percentage of negotiated cash cattle purchases by each of the major meatpacking plants that are required to report to USDA AMS under the Livestock Mandatory Reporting program. What does this mean? Our proposal would require a minimum of 30 percent of each packer processing plant’s weekly volume of beef slaughter to come as a …
Member Alert: Update on the USDA COVID-19 Aid Package
(April 18, 2020) – As of this morning, USDA has not hosted any stakeholder briefings on what was released late last night. There are many questions surrounding USDA’s announcement and how it applies to producers. USCA is working on tracking down answers these answers and will keep its members up to date as we learn more. We expect more briefings …
USCA Releases Estimate on Economic Impact of COVID-19 to U.S. Cattle Industry
(WASHINGTON) – On Friday, the United States Cattlemen’s Association (USCA) released its full economic impact report of the COVID-19 pandemic on the U.S. cattle industry, compiled by Brett Crosby of Custom Ag Solutions and BeefBasis.com. Using existing market data and futures market data, the total actual and future impact is forecast to exceed $14.6 billion. The analysis focuses on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic to three …
USCA Launches Effort to Secure Minimum Percent of Negotiated Cattle Sales
Join other producers in signing on in support of requiring minimum negotiated purchases of cattle by each U.S. meat processing facility: http://bit.ly/thirtyfourteen
Member Alert: USCA Hosts Horn Wrap Call on Pathway Forward for Truth in Labeling
Listen to the call here!
Member Alert: USCA Sends Letter Urging Packing Plants to Stay Open
Today,USCA sent a letter to Secretary Sonny Perdue urging the U.S. Department of Agriculture to do everything in their power to keep packing plants open during the fallout from COVID-19. According to Cassie Fish ofThe Beef, “Estimates for this week’s slaughter are 570,000 to 590,000 head, which would be the smallest non-holiday kill for this week since 2016-2017.” To further this …
Member Alert: Secretary Perdue Launches Beef Price Investigation
In our original letter requesting short-term, temporary relief for producers impacted by the COVID19 pandemic, USCA requested increased oversight of marketplace activities to seek out anticompetitive buying practices and other price manipulation tactics. Since then, multiple Senators have issued their own statements requesting similar investigations. We’re appreciative of those Members of Congress who have elevated this issue through press, letters, …