Senate Ag Committee Hearing today about cattle market transparency

By Carrie Stadheim, Editor

St. Onge Livestock manager Justin Tupper will address the U.S. Senate Ag Committee at 12:30 Mountain Time regarding cattle market transparency and pricing.

Tupper, who is testifying on behalf of the U.S. Cattlemen’s Association has submitted testimony and will speak the disparity between the price that the “big four” packers are receiving for beef and the price they are paying cattle feeders for slaughter-ready cattle.

“I’ll touch on what we think true price discovery is. The reason we often don’t get true price discovery is that we don’t have a second bidder. In my world, in the auction business, price discovery comes when we at least have a second bidder.”

Tupper said he will also discuss his organization’s concern about the fact that two of the “big four” packers are foreign owned, and how that affects the country’s food security, and he will address labeling.

“There is definitely going to be a conversation about the loophole that allows packers to label foreign beef as USA beef. We think the consumer has the right to choose. Beef should be labeled as to where it was born, raised and harvested.”

The hearing can be viewed here at 12:30 MT, June 23, 2021.