NCBA MEMBERS SEEK PRICE INFORMATION

DENVER — Key segments of the beef industry would have 18 months to show that they are cooperating with the provisions of voluntary "complete" price reporting or National Cattlemen’s Beef Association will work toward mandatory price reporting under the terms of a resolution adopted July 19 by the association.

According to the resolution, NCBA will review the progress toward "complete" price reporting at its annual convention in 2000. If the data indicate that the voluntary system doesn’t meet standards to be set by the association, the resolution recommends that NCBA: (1) make policy to seek mandatory price reporting; and (2) develop legislation that defines who must report, determines classes of cattle to report, defines noncompliance penalties and procedures, and sets statutory authority.

Furthermore, the resolution asks that immediate mandatory volume and price reporting be achieved for boxed beef and beef imports and exports.

"Our recommendations should help improve the voluntary system," said Dudley Butler, an NCBA Price Discovery Task Force member from Mississippi. "And, if not, outline the basic steps needed to implement a mandatory price reporting system."

The resolution evolved from a report by the Task Force. The recommendations to the industry for improving the voluntary price reporting system include:

• Developing a grid pricing system with a negotiated based price

• "Complete" voluntary reporting

• More objective measurements for defining cattle value

Cattlemen hope the new emphasis on reporting will help them learn the price paid for captive supply cattle, which includes cattle that are forward contracted or sold to packers on a formula basis. According to USDA, an estimated 30 percent of live cattle sold annually are considered captive supply and the price paid for those animals is not reported in the daily live cattle trade.

"The evidence doesn’t suggest that mandatory price reporting will by itself significantly improve or change the value of price information we are generating with the voluntary system in use today," said Task Force Chairman Roger Stuber. "However, the Task Force recognizes that there is a strongly held perception that today’s voluntary price reporting system is inadequate, especially in regards to captive supply cattle."

Initiated in 1898, NCBA is the marketing organization and trade association for America’s one million cattle ranchers and farmers. With offices in Denver, Chicago and Washington, D.C., NCBA is a consumer-focused, producer-directed organization representing the largest segment of the nation’s food and fiber industry.

– NCBA –