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, and other outreach.
Today, Secretary Sonny Perdue announced in a tweet that the USDA will “extending our oversight” to explore “the causes of divergence between box and live beef prices, beginning with the Holcomb Fire in KS last summer and now with COVID-19.”
Of course, COVID-19 did not cause the ongoing issues in the cattle marketplace. Rather, the current pandemic has highlighted the urgent need to find solutions that realign the cattle marketplace with its true fundamentals.
USCA will continue its work on those marketplace solutions with Congress and the Administration, as it has for the past few years. Every week now, cattle producers from across the U.S. have been coming together on a regular conference call to make some long overdue improvements to live cattle marketing (details coming soon!).
Please encourage your family, friends, and neighbors to join those efforts by donating or becoming a member. We are 100% member-funded and member-driven, and rely on the generosity of our members to keep us working towards strengthening the bottom line of U.S. cattle producers.