New York Ag Connection - R-CALF to Senate: We Don't Want Bail-out; We Want Our Industry Back

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R-CALF to Senate: We Don't Want Bail-out; We Want Our Industry Back
New York Ag Connection - 03/24/2020

In a short message sent Monday to every U.S. Senate office, R-CALF USA emphatically stated:

"Congress should not pass any cattle industry bail-out unless it is accompanied by REAL market structure reforms to correct the severe and prolonged problem depicted below. The serious crisis that America's cattle producers face today has been going on for several years, and no one listened. The coronavirus virus has simply shined a light on the severity of our industry's ongoing crisis. You must fix the absolute disconnect between live cattle prices and wholesale and retail beef prices. Until that's done any bail-out will simply accelerate the ongoing exodus of cattle producers from our industry. We offer two structural reforms that Congress should implement immediately:

1. Place immediate limits on the percentage of cattle that packers can procure through arrangements that both circumvent and undermine the competitive cash market (to preserve the integrity of our industry's nearly destroyed price discovery market, which, importantly, informs our industry's futures market).

2. Require all beef sold in America to be distinguished as to where the animal from which it was derived was born, raised, and harvested so American consumers can put American cattle producers First and choose to purchase safe, wholesome, exclusively American beef.

"We have more solutions, but these are the priorities. R-CALF USA is the largest producer-only cattle trade association in America. We don't want a bail-out, we want our industry back."

The ranch group included the following graphic to help the U.S. Senate understand the severity of the crisis faced by America's cattle producers.

R-CALF USA (Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund United Stockgrowers of America) is the largest producer-only lobbying and trade association representing U.S. cattle producers. It is a national, nonprofit organization dedicated to ensuring the continued profitability and viability of the U.S. cattle industry.

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