(JULY 1) – On Wednesday, the United States Cattlemen’s Association (USCA), National Farmers Union (NFU), and eleven other organizations sent a letter to the Senate Agriculture Committee requesting a hearing on livestock mandatory price reporting reauthorization. The Livestock Mandatory Reporting rule, established in 1999, mandates price reporting for cattle, boxed beef swine, and lamb. It is reauthorized every five years, with …
MEMBER ALERT: Justice Department Issues Subpoenas to “Big Four”
(JUNE 8) – On Friday, the Department of Justice issued civil subpoenas to the four biggest beef processors, JBS USA Holdings Inc., Tyson Foods Inc., Cargill Inc. and National Beef Packing Company. The move comes as the Department ramps up its examination into anticompetitive practices in the U.S. livestock industry. Just on Wednesday, four poultry industry executives were indicted on …
White House, USDA Announce Details of Coronavirus Food Assistance Program
(May 19, 2020) – On Tuesday, President Donald J. Trump announced details of the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP). The announcement detailed the distribution of up to $16 billion in direct payments to producers experiencing COVID-19 related losses. Full program details are below. Sign-up will begin May 26th and run until August 28th. President Trump also said that the U.S. …
MEMBER ALERT: Details Released on Coronavirus Food Assistance Program
(May 19, 2020) – Today, President Donald J. Trump and Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue announced details of the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP). USCA’s Marketing and Competition Committee is reviewing the details released this morning and will provide our members with additional information and clarification on the process soon. Here’s what we know so far: CFAP provides vital financial assistance …
Senators Introduce Spot Market Bill
(MAY 12) – On Tuesday, U.S. Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Jon Tester (D-MT) introduced a bill to require each U.S. meat processing facility that slaughters over 125,000 head of cattle each year to purchase fifty percent of their weekly volume of beef slaughter on the open or ‘spot’ market. The lack of cash negotiated sales in recent years has …
USCA: Prioritize the U.S. Beef and Cattle Industry
(WASHINGTON) – On Wednesday, the United States Cattlemen’s Association (USCA) sent a letter to Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue urging the prioritization of the U.S. beef and cattle industry over foreign product during the COVID-19 pandemic. USCA President Brooke Miller issued the following statement to accompany the letter: “If bold and immediate action is not taken in the coming weeks, …
USCA Continues its Focus on True Price Discovery
(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 …
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: 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 …