Mandatory Price Reporting Reauthorization legislation has been signed into law, extending reporting requirements of livestock daily markets for five years. The legislation will ensure that family farmers and ranchers will receive fair market value for their livestock.

“This represents a major step forward in helping Arkansas’s producers better maintain transparency and certainty in livestock markets” said Arkansas Sen. Blanche Lincoln, Chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee. “Animal agriculture is responsible for more than 57,000 Arkansas jobs and $2.55 billion in added value every year to the state’s economy. … I’m proud to report this law will ensure that family farmers and Arkansas ranchers can remain confident that they are receiving fair market value for their livestock they have worked tirelessly to bring to the market.”

In addition to current law, Lincoln’s bill calls for reporting on Mandatory Reporting of Wholesale Pork (MRWP) meat cuts. This new provision will improve transparency to the pork industry and further protect producers. The bill also instructs the Secretary of Agriculture to establish within one year an electronic price reporting system for dairy products which will make it easier for milk producers to obtain current milk prices. MRWP is a critical piece of the puzzle in protecting hard working farmers and ranchers as they take their commodity to market.

“We appreciate Sen. Lincoln’s leadership in moving this very important piece of legislation at such a rapid pace through the Senate and having it signed into law,” said Tommy Lalman, president of the Arkansas Cattlemen’s Association. “The Mandatory Price Reporting law will enable the livestock industry the ability to have clear unfettered information in which to make their marketing plans. Transparency in the marketplace is paramount to a free market system and Senator Lincoln’s leadership has helped ensure that we have just that. Cattlemen all across Arkansas and the entire country owe her a debt of gratitude.”

Champions and advocates for reauthorization expressed support and praise for the effort when it originally passed the Senate in August, calling the victory an important step toward enhancing transparency and competitiveness for the industry.

“I really appreciate Senator Lincoln’s leadership on this very important piece of legislation,” said Buddy Smith, an Arkansas cattle producer and owner of Lewis Livestock Market in Conway, Ark. “By passing this legislation, she has ensured a fair and open market place so all industry partners will have a level playing field.”

“As a producer of high quality beef for a growing global population, I appreciate Sen. Lincoln’s efforts to help continue the availability of timely and accurate market information for U.S. cattle producers,” said Bruce Hafenfeld, a California-based cattle producer and NCBA’s Policy Division Chair. “By reauthorizing Mandatory Price Reporting, cattle producers will continue to have access to daily price and volume information on purchases of cattle and boxed beef sales as well as export and import data. This effort to enhance transparency in the marketplace is a definite win for every aspect of the industry.”

"Given current economic instability, reauthorization of mandatory price reporting is vital to U.S. farmers and ranchers to provide market tools essential to the livestock sector,” said National Farmers Union (NFU) President Roger Johnson. “NFU supports the language included that would aid in the dairy crisis, providing for more certainty and transparency in the volatile marketplace. NFU commends the leadership of Sen. Lincoln on this issue.”

“Farm Bureau appreciates the efforts of Chairman Lincoln and (Georgia Sen. Saxby) Chambliss to reauthorize the Mandatory Price Reporting law which provides necessary transparency in livestock pricing information critical to producers' marketing opportunities,” said President Bob Stallman.

“NMPF has been working since 2000 to improve the open, transparent discovery of dairy prices, but we’ve been frustrated by the stumbling blocks that have prevented the implementation of mandatory reporting,” said NMPF President and CEO Jerry Kozak. “These bills make it clear, in no uncertain terms, that the USDA will have to do what it takes to establish dairy price reporting.”

“We appreciate Chairman Blanche Lincoln’s leadership to secure legislation that will ensure reporting continues, to avoid the situation where not everyone was reporting accurately is critical to our industry,” said American Sheep Industry President Glen Fisher.

“We are very pleased that the Agriculture Committee approved legislation reauthorizing the mandatory price reporting law,” said NPPC President Sam Carney, a pork producer from Adair, Iowa. “The addition of export and wholesale cuts reporting will further help producers like me make business and production decisions.”

“The Mandatory Price Act will allow USDA to collect and report pricing data electronically, leading to important improvements in the efficiency and transparency of the dairy industry,” said Connie Tipton of the International Dairy Foods Association.

Lincoln first introduced the bill in July and secured unanimous approval by the Senate in August.