AMI Testifies in Senate Agriculture Committee Hearing on Mandatory Price Reporting

AMI President and CEO J. Patrick Boyle today outlined for the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture the multitude of reporting requirements and negligible benefits associated with the Livestock Mandatory Reporting Act, but noted that AMI is willing to support a five-year extension to the statute if program changes are minimal.

Boyle stated that "AMI and its membership still believe that Mandatory Price Reporting is an extremely costly mandate that replaced a successful, voluntary reporting program that was widely used and provided meaningful data," Boyle said. "However, AMI has been working with its membership, as well as with livestock producer groups, to find consensus on reauthorizing the Livestock Mandatory Reporting Act in a manner that makes the program more effective and efficient without increasing costs or regulatory burdens on the beef, pork and lamb sectors. As a result, AMI along with the National Pork Producers Council, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, American Sheep Industry Association, and the American Farm Bureau Federation support, without amendment, the consensus reauthorization language submitted recently to the House Agriculture Committee and as noted in the letter provided to the Committee today."

Also testifying today were USDA’s Acting Administrator for the Agricultural Marketing Service, Dr. Ken Clayton; National Pork Producers Council Past President John Caspers of Pleasant Valley Pork Corporation; Iowa Department of Agriculture Bureau Marketing Chief Harold Hommes; and Livestock Marketing Information Center Director James Robb.

Boyle's complete testimony, and testimony from the other panelists, may be found at the following link: http://agriculture.senate.gov/Hearings/hearings.cfm?hearingId=1552