Cattle Producers Face Opposition From NCBA With 50/14 Implementation
Sometimes things are exactly what they seem. For example, if a governor chooses to mandate masks in their state, that is likely what they are doing. Realistically, there is no tyrannical undertone to such a mandate, it is simply what they believe is best for the people at the time.
Robust price discovery in the fat cattle market is incredibly difficult to achieve in full faith with the current system. There are a multitude of factors causing this, but packer consolidation and manipulation is easily at the top of the list for causes. Some sit on the fence and make excuses, and that is what NCBA is doing right now.
NCBA President-Elect Jerry Bohn said, “the bill Senator Grassley has proposed would mandate that many of our producers will have to change the way they’re currently selling cattle. The question comes to mind is ‘what part of government’s going to do that? Who is going to determine what’s fair and what’s legal and what’s not? We believe that should be decided by the industry.”
The fact is, when you pay more for a commodity than you sell it for over time, you lose money. Bohn speaks so proudly of not requiring producers to change what they are doing, even when the system we are currently following is literally putting them out of business. The ONLY people that benefit from that mentality in the long and short run are the major beef packers.
The purpose of government is to legislate and regulate. The beef packers have all the control in this model of agriculture production. This is an example of exactly when the government should step in to clean up the mess they have created. But still, Bohn says “industry” should fix it. “If it’s government mandated, we’re not going to be in favor of that. Does there need to be more price discovery? I think we would all agree that’s a problem that the industry must deal with, but, mandating how we do it and mandating that the government will be in charge – that’s just the wrong direction.”
That hasn’t worked out for the 6,000+ cattle producers that have been put out of business.