Issues Agriculture Farm Bill Livestock

I supported important steps in the Senate Farm Bill to help ensure fair competition for small livestock farmers. This includes an effort led by Senator Herb Kohl to help local producers who use smaller state-inspected meat processors make their products available in other states.

I also supported a provision in the Farm Bill based on Senator Tom Harkin's (D-IA) Competitive and Fair Agricultural Markets Act to support producers. This competition package included a provision similar to a bill I authored with Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) to prevent mandatory arbitration in agricultural contracts. I was able to pass this legislation in the Senate Judiciary Committee last year. These protections would go a long way to help ensure small livestock farmers are not at an unfair disadvantage with their much larger competitors

I was also pleased that provisions in the Senate Farm Bill should mean that mandatory country of origin labeling (COOL) for produce and meat will finally be implemented. These labels help both producers and consumers by providing clear information, and enabling consumers to choose our high quality U.S. products.

I was disappointed that procedural rules prevented the Senate from voting on other competition amendments, including one authored by Senators Grassley and Kohl similar to their Agriculture Competition Enhancement Act. The amendment would have provided increased oversight in the livestock industry to better protect family producers.

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