Below are some helpful links regards the Senate Farm Bill
and in particular the Livestock Title

by Julie Harker

Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says he expects to be named a member of the conference committee that will decide the new farm bill. But, he says it'll be as a member of the Senate Finance Committee because of the tax provisions in the bill and not as an Ag committee member. Grassley is the ranking Republican on Senate Finance but has low seniority on the Ag committee. Still, he says that won't stop him from pushing for provisions like the packer ban to be included in the final bill, "I can tell ya that I'm not going to sit on the sidelines even if I'm only involved because of taxes, because I've worked hard on the packer ban. And I don't want to happen now what happened in 2002 and lose it in conference."

Grassley says it's likely Senate leaders McConnell and Reid will decide his level of participation in conference. Given that not all conference committees are handled the same, he's not sure if those decisions will be based more on emotions than sound practice.

Related Links:
Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA)
U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee
Senator Chuck Grassley, conference call with reporters, 2:10 min., MP3


Ban on Packer Ownership

l):\WEI\WEI07B55.xml S.L.C
p.43

1 SEC. 10207. PROHIBITION ON PACKERS OWNING, FEEDING,
2 OR CONTROLLING LIVESTOCK.
3 (a) IN GENERAL.-Section 202 of the Packers and
4 Stockyards Act, 1921 (7 U.S.C. 192), is amended-
5 (1) by redesignating subsections (f) and (g) as
6 subsections (g) and (h), respectively; and
7 (2) by inserting after subsection (e) the fol-
8 lowing:
9 "(f) Own or feed livestock directly, through a sub-
10 sidiary, or through an arrangement that gives the packer
11 operational, managerial, or supervisory control over the
12 livestock, or over the farming operation that produces the
13 livestock, to such an extent that the producer is no longer
14 materially participating in the management of the oper-
15 ation with respect to the production of the livestock, ex-
16 cept that this subsection shall not apply to-
17 "(1) an arrangement entered into within 14
18 days (excluding any Saturday or Sunday) before
19 slaughter of the livestock by a packer, a person act-
ZO ing through the packer, or a person that directly or
21 indirectly controls, or is controlled by or under com-
22 mon control with, the packer;
23 "(2) a cooperative or entity owned by a cooper-
24 ative, if a majority of the ownership interest in the
25 cooperative is held by active cooperative members
26 that-

0:\WEI\WEI07B55.xml S.L.C.
p.44

"(A) own, feed, or control livestock; and
"(B) provide the livestock to the cooperative
for slaughter;
"(3) a packer that is not required to report to
the Secretary on each reporting day (as defined in
section 212 of the Agricultural Marketing Act oi
1946 (7 U.S.C. 1635a)) information on the price
and quantity of livestock purchased by the packer;
or
"(4) a packer that owns 1 livestock processing
plant; or",
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.-
(1) IN GENERAL.-Subject to paragraph (2),
the amendments made by subsection (a) take effect
on the date of enactment of this Act.
(2) TRANSITION RULES.-In the case of a packer
that on the date of enactment of this Act owns,
feeds, or controls livestock intended for slaughter in
violation of section 202 (f) of the Packers and Stockyards
Act, 1921 (as amended by subsection (a)), the
amendments made by subsection (a) apply to the
packer-
(A) in the case of a packer of swine, beginning
on the date that is 18 months after the
date of enactment of this Act: and

U:\WBI\WEI07B55.xml S.L.C,
p.45

1 (B) in the case of a packer of any other
2 type of livestock, beginning as soon as prac-
3 ticable, but not later than 180 days, after the
4 date of enactment of this Act, as determined b\
5 the Secretary.

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