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Coalition to Congress: Vote for the Farm Bill Conference Report Billings, Mont. (May 13, 2008) – A coalition of 557 organizations – including R-CALF USA and several of its affiliates – sent a formal letter to the full House and Senate today to request enough votes in support of the 2008 Farm Bill Conference Report to override any presidential veto. “This is by no means a perfect piece of legislation, and none of our organizations achieved everything we had individually requested,” the letter states. “However, it is a carefully balanced compromise of policy priorities that has broad support among organizations representing the national’s agriculture, conservation and nutrition interests. “Our organizations applaud the strong bipartisan leadership demonstrated in Congress to authorize and approve a strong new five-year Farm Bill,” the letter continues. “Sound policy and long-term certainty are absolutely essential to everyone served by the Farm Bill, and the final Conference Report provides both.” “Though we are deeply disappointed that the Farm Bill does not contain language to prohibit the larger packers from using packer-owned cattle to artificially lower cattle prices, the cattle industry made significant progress in this Farm Bill,” said R-CALF USA CEO Bill Bullard. “Independent U.S. cattle producers for the first time now have a separate Livestock Title in the Farm Bill to address their industry’s specific concerns. “Also included in this new title is interstate shipment of state-inspected beef so that state-inspected plants can soon begin to engage in interstate commerce across state lines, as well as language that requires USDA (U.S. Department of Agriculture) to finally define what is meant by the prohibition against ‘unreasonable preferences or advantage’ in cattle procurement transactions,” he added. The new Livestock Title also: * STRENGTHENS PRODUCER PROTECTIONS: The bill ensures producers are not forced into mandatory arbitration in livestock or poultry contracts. Producers will be allowed to decline arbitration prior to entering into the contract. * INCREASES MARKET TRANSPARENCY: The bill requires market information obtained through mandatory price reporting to be provided online. * CLARIFIES COUNTRY-OF-ORIGIN LABELING REQUIREMENTS: The bill requires retailers to label the country of origin of meat, (such as beef, lamb, pork, chicken and goat meat), fish, fruits and vegetables, ginseng, peanuts, pecans and macadamia nuts by Sept. 30, 2008. * IMPROVES ADMINISTRATIVE OVERSIGHT: The bill improves oversight and transparency of USDA’s enforcement of the Packers and Stockyards Act by requiring USDA to provide an annual compliance report detailing the number of investigations and length of time spent on potential violations of the Act. Investigations will be required to be tracked and documented throughout every step of the enforcement process starting with the Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration, USDA Office of General Counsel and the Department of Justice. Note: To view the letter in its entirely, visit the “Competition Issues” link at: http://www.r-calfusa.com. # # # R-CALF USA (Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund, United Stockgrowers of America) is a national, non-profit organization dedicated to ensuring the continued profitability and viability of the U.S. cattle industry. R-CALF USA represents thousands of U.S. cattle producers on trade and marketing issues. Members are located across 47 states and are primarily cow/calf operators, cattle backgrounders, and/or feedlot owners. R-CALF USA has dozens of affiliate organizations and various main-street businesses are associate members. For more information, visit www.r-calfusa.com or, call 406-252-2516. |
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This page was last updated on Friday, June 06, 2008. |
