It looked Wednesday like the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association would join the American Farm Bureau in asking Congress to remove “mandatory” levels of cash trade for fed cattle from the Cattle Price Discovery and Transparency Act now pending in the U.S. Senate.
The committee’s policy--which would reflect a change in NCBA policy--still needs to be approved by the general membership today at their annual convention in Houston.
The policy change left the association supporting most of the provisions in the bill but reflected second thoughts on the call for having the government require that packers acquire minimum numbers of cattle in the cash market. Several speakers during debate expressed concern about the impact on value based marketing arrangements.
Iowa Cattlemen’s Association members and some other affiliates voted to leave the mandate in place, but the vote was more than three to one in favor of seeking its elimination.
That puts the two most influential lobbying groups in favor of leaving the volume of cash trade in the hands of the voluntary programs NCBA has been supporting since last year, while R-Calf and the Independent Cattlemen’s Association continue to support leaving mandates in place.
Notably, the Iowa Cattlemen’s Association argued and voted as a group in favor of leaving the mandate in the bill. Their senior senator, Charles Grassley, is the lead sponsor on the bill.
