Ron Plain

Feeding, or Controlling Livestock. ” The amendment prohibits packers from owning, feeding or controlling livestock intended for slaughter for more than 14 days prior to slaughter. An exception is made in the legislation for cooperatives, if a majority of the ownership interest in the cooperative is held by active cooperative members that own, feed or control livestock and the members provide the livestock to the cooperative for slaughter. Additionally, another exemption is included in the legislation for packers that are owned or controlled by producers of a type of livestock, if during a calendar year the packer slaughters less than 2 percent of that type of livestock slaughtered in the U.S. The legislation would apply to cattle, hogs and sheep, but not to poultry. The purpose of this discussion paper is to provide background information on changes that have occurred in cattle and beef marketing in recent years, discuss why these changes have occurred, and to outline the likely impact of proposed limitations on beef packer activity on the cattle and beef markets. What impact would the proposed elimination of cattle ownership by packers have on cattle markets