DENVER, CO – As the cattle industry struggles with how to move forward in light of recent supply chain disruptions and a cash market that is out of whack, some have been looking to the government for direction. Industry leaders who have been debating the problem and a possible solution for more than one year decided to find an independent solution instead.
At the annual Summer Business Meeting for the National Cattleman’s Beef Association (NCBA), industry leaders worked for more than six hours to identify a policy that would help resolve concerns about live cattle marketing issues and lead the industry to more robust price discovery. After intense debate, the Live Cattle Marketing Committee and NCBA Board of Directors unanimously passed a policy that supports voluntary efforts to improve cash fed cattle trade during the next 90 days with the potential for mandates in the future if robust regional cash trade numbers are not reached by the industry.
NCBA President Marty Smith noted that the work of the Live Cattle Marketing committee caps months of working group efforts to find industry and market-driven solutions to increase price discovery without government mandates. “The policy we passed today is the result of every state cattlemen’s association coming together to work through their differences and finding solutions that meet the needs of their members, all of whom agree that our industry needs more robust price discovery. This policy provides all players in the industry the opportunity to achieve that goal without seeking government mandates,” Smith explained.
(SOURCE: All Ag News)