Revised Meat Packers' Legislation Issued
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The much anticipated legislation requiring meat packers to report the prices they pay producers for food animals has finally been issued.The National Pork Producers Council worked diligently to get the mandatory price reporting law approved and submitted comments on the regulations proposed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The Livestock Mandatory Reporting Act, first approved in 1999 and amended and reauthorized in October 2006, is administered by USDA to provide information to producers, packers and other market participants on pricing, contracting for purchase and supply and demand conditions for livestock, livestock production and livestock products.
Packers have been voluntarily reporting livestock prices since the law expired Sept. 30, 2005. Making the reporting mandatory, points out NPPC, means that USDA can audit reports.
“During this time of economic crisis for many pork producers, having mandatory price reporting helps producers make business and production decisions that will allow them to get the best price for their hogs,” said NPPC President Bryan Black, a pork producer from Canal Winchester, Ohio.
The reauthorized price reporting law, which will take effect July 15, 2008, includes three enhancements to the pork reporting provisions:
- More sows are included in pricing reports to more accurately reflect the sales and prices paid in the sow market.
- Changes in the timing for data reporting to help USDA with its workload and, thus, to increase report accuracy and efficiency.
- USDA may publish price distributions for net prices to provide more information that is more reflective of market situations.