What: On October 11, 2024, the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) sought advance comment on a proposed rule that will improve price discovery and fair and competitive trading environments in fed cattle markets. The comment period for the proposed rule is extended to January 10, 2025.
AMS is seeking comments on a range of options designed to ensure that base prices in formula pricing agreements are broadly representative of fair market conditions and are not vulnerable to unfair, deceptive, manipulative, unduly preferential, or anti-competitive practices that could cause prices to shift. AMS states the targeted options seek to address obstacles that market participants face when engaging in price discovery and contributing to transparent markets. AMS states these options are further intended to mitigate the market design, trading practices, or preferences that underlie the complaints AMS has received over the years relating to aspects of formula pricing agreements and their impact on producers and the cattle markets.
AMS seeks comment on the experience of producers, packers, and other market participants in relation to the problems supporting the complaints AMS received, as well as the effectiveness, workability, and economic impacts of several potential solutions identified. AMS welcomes relevant data, information, and opinions to explain those views. The request for comment is principally focused on what could be done by AMS’s Packers and Stockyards Division (PSD) under the authority of the Packers & Stockyards Act of 1921.
Action: Comments are due by January 10, 2025.
Read the advanced notice of proposed rulemaking and submit comments.
Read the notice extending the comment period.
Advocacy contact: Send an email to Shanerika Flemings at shanerika.flemings@sba.gov.