Angie Craig: “Action needs to be taken if the studies yield what he says they might yield. This is a directive from the Congress to…”

“Action needs to be taken if the studies yield what he says they might yield. This is a directive from the Congress to USDA to operate in 270 days. It would then not be incumbent upon USDA to act. It would be incumbent upon the Congress to act. What does my amendment do? It directs that there should be an examination of the relationship of livestock as it relates to 14 days prior to slaughter, livestock producers that market under contract grid, base contracts, forward contracts, rural communities, employees of commercial feedlots, livestock producers, and market feeder livestock, and feedlot owners controlled by packers, market price for livestock--both cash and futures--and the ability of the livestock producers to obtain credit from commercial sources. What is occurring today under these new relationships with contracts is that the producer can take the contract to the bank and get financing. That has become an important and valuable tool as it relates to a lot of these new relationships.”