Nebraska Cattlemen Sends Official Request for Relief to Congressional Delegation

The Nebraska Cattlemen sent a letter to Nebraska’s congressional delegation laying out a plan of short term and long-term action items to address current and future cattle market issues.

“Because of the rapidly increasing spread between boxed beef prices and live cattle prices over the past week, our first priority is to demand USDA increase monitoring of price action and buyer behavior at the feedlot-packer interface and take swift action if undue price manipulation is discovered” Ken Herz, President – Nebraska Cattlemen “We are also pursuing a one-time “Beef Stimulus” payment for cattlemen and women that have dealt with rapid market declines and continued extreme volatility.”

NC urges Congress to explore new or modify existing risk mitigation programs to incentivize increased participation by cattlemen. Additionally, NC asks for continued assurance that USDA and other federal agencies will remain operational to ensure packing and processing facilities continue to operate.

NC continues to explore ideas to incentivize an increased percentage of cattle to be sold on the cash market, thereby increasing true price discovery and transparency in the marketplace. NC policy encourages cash negotiated trade levels reach 50% of fed cattle marketed.

Nebraska Cattlemen staff and leaders remain in daily communications with the highest level of elected officials on the state and federal level, as well as governmental agencies on the local, state and federal level to ensure that cattlemen’s business continuity is a top priority.

–Nebraska Cattlemen