WASHINGTON, D.C. – The questions have been pointed and some answers heated during a two-day hearing of both the Senate and House Agriculture Committees regarding market transparency in beef and other commodities.
Questions of price fixing, inexplicable beef market price charts, and claims of an administration that is blaming the wrong people (packers) for the volatile beef market over the past give to 10 years, flew between committee members and industry witnesses during the hearings.
The Senate Agriculture Committee held a hearing Tuesday, April 26, to review the Cattle Price Discovery and Transparency Act of 2022 and the Meat and the Poultry Special Investigator Act of 2022.
Witness included:
- Andy Green, senior adviser for fair and competitive markets, the Agriculture Department.
- Bruce Sommers, administrator, USDA Agricultural Marketing Service.
- William Ruffin, Ruffin Farms, Bay Springs, Miss.
- Shawn Tiffany, president-elect, Kansas Livestock Association and Tiffany Cattle Company, Herington, Kan.
- Shelly Ziesch, owner/operator, Ziesch Ranch, Jamestown, N.D.
- Stephen Koontz, professor. agricultural and resource economics, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colo.
Listen to the hearing HERE
Today, Wednesday, April 27, the House Agriculture Committee is holding its own hearing to examine price discrepancies, transparency, and alleged unfair practices in cattle markets.
The hearing notably includes the CEOs of Cargill, Tyson Foods, JBS and National Beef.
Among others giving testimony are Gilles Stockton, a rancher from Grass Range, MT representing the Northern Plains Resource Council and the Montana Cattlemen’s Association.
Listen to the hearing HERE
