Tom Harkin: “This amendment is much more narrow. It only affects production contracts in livestock. The letter does not point out…”

“This amendment is much more narrow. It only affects production contracts in livestock. The letter does not point out, nor have I heard anybody point out, any specific negative consequences that could occur from this very limited type of amendment. This provides for fairness in production contracting. It closes a loophole in the Packers and Stockyards Act. That act already covers production contracting in poultry and has since 1935, if I am not mistaken. But at that time there was no such thing as production contracting in other areas, such as livestock, cattle, and hogs, it was not addressed. Since then, production contracting has become much more prevalent in livestock. As I pointed out, in 1990, there wasn't such a thing. Now, 30 to 35 percent of all our hogs are raised under production contracts. If we will provide fairness rules for gasoline station owners, for Dairy Queen owners, or securities dealers, or others that are franchisees, to give them a little bit of fairness in their contracts, that is all we are trying to do with our cattle and hog producers. Again, this is to close the loophole in the Packers and Stockyards Act.”