The Iowa State Fair is probably one of the greatest meetings of agriculture that there is in the state. All the commodity groups are here together and can talk about what they can do to help each other out, where they have common ground, where they have differences, and what they can do to improve the quality of life for the Iowa farmer.
When you come down to the livestock barns, you can see cattle hogs, horses, sheep, and poultry all together and the producers talking with one another about the issues. It is also a time when you see the politicians come around to hear from farmers, especially with this being the August recess in Congress, and it gives them a better opportunity to talk to everyone at once, whether they are urban or rural. There are policies that affect us all.
Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley was at the fair on Monday to hear from constituents from across the state. It was also a time for him to pass along the information of what is going on in Washington, D.C. While the Senator was down around the cattle barns, he stopped by the Iowa Agribusiness Radio Network tent to update us on the topics we have been covering, and what he?s hoping Congress will achieve when they return.
One of the things that the Senator has been working on is reform to cattle marketing. His Cattle Market Transparency Act is aimed at trying to give a fair shake for those producers who are looking to sell cattle on the cash market. This way they can see the prices they can get, and the packers must allow a certain amount of their daily kill to be these daily cash sales.
While the big four packers (JBS, Cargill, Tyson & National Beef Packing) are most vocal and in the public eye, denying that they have a monopoly on the market, there are cattle producers of many sizes that are arguing that the old way of doing things isn?t the way the market works anymore. They say that to stay alive, you must adapt. Senator Grassley disagrees and says that if there are those who want to forward contract their cattle, they should do what works best for the future of their operation. All he wants to accomplish with his bill is to make sure that if there are cattle producers who want to sell their cattle at a cash price, they aren?t being treated unfairly by the packers, and that forward contractors are given too much preferential treatment. This includes a fair market price in relation to those who contract ahead, and not having to wait weeks and months to get a delivery date.
However, while this is not an unreasonable request, there are producers of every size that contract their cattle for prices and delivery dates. I talked to one producer on the condition of anonymity that is considered a ?small producer? by today?s standard. He said, ?I market my cattle by contract because that is the best way for me to lock in the best price I can. I can have my cattle sold in a way that allows me to take advantage if the markets go higher, but also protect myself if the markets go lower. It?s the game we must play. I don?t plow with a horse and a single bottom plow anymore either.?
This is still a topic that is not exactly as black and white as some would like you to believe. I haven?t met a producer that wants others to fail and lose their family operations, but there are many who don?t think it is up to the government to stick their nose in and dictate how the market should work. But the other side of the coin is that without government investigation, companies can obtain a monopoly, and everybody can be at their mercy.
It is a slippery slope, one way or another. Should the government allow a few companies to control almost all of the marketplace? Should the producers stand for a government that wants to control how the free market works? How much of this issue is investigation, and how much of it is manipulation?
Speaking of investigation? has anybody heard anything from the DOJ on their findings on the Big 4? I mean the investigation was ordered during the Trump Administration.
