S.D. Farmers Union Supports Cattle Producers Calling for COOL & Transparency in Price Reporting

South Dakota Farmers Union (SDFU) supports the Sept. 25, 2019 testimony of cattle producers who testified before the U.S Senate Ag Committee.

“Across the United States, cattlemen and women are facing unprecedented challenges to their livelihood. As these threats rise, and cattle prices fall, more and more families have come to the realization that they simply cannot keep their bottom line “in the black” at the end of the year. Our concern lies not only in the ability of our nation to continue producing the highest-quality, safest food supply in the world, but also in the ability of our producers to feed themselves. The U.S. cattle industry requires bold leadership by Congress to address the current inadequacies in the marketplace,” reads testimony from Shane Eaton, a cattle producer from Lindsay, Montana (read complete transcript at this link: https://www.agriculture.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Testimony_Eaton%2009.25.19.pdf)

Like Eaton, SDFU, a grassroots organization of more than 16,000 family farmers and ranchers, supports more transparency in price reporting. SDFU would like to see leadership reinstate Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) which was repealed in 2015. 

“I totally support everything Shane Eaton testified to yesterday during U.S Senate Ag Committee hearing, including his suggested remedy to include imported live cattle reporting as part of Livestock Mandatory Reporting (LMR),” said Doug Sombke, SDFU President and Conde crop and cattle producer.

Sombke explains that in the current market, cattle can be imported to the U.S., placed in a feedlot and be marketed as non-imported cattle. “This process does not exemplify fair marketing and puts the U.S. cattle producers at a disadvantage. Currently we are lacking full transparency of price reporting and GIPSA’s job description of price reporting,” Sombke said.

The tragic result leaves South Dakota producers dealing with punishing losses since 2015. Many sustaining losses upwards of $500/head while packer margins have been in excess of $500/head. “Feeder and Live cattle market volatility is jeopardizing the livelihoods of the South Dakota cattle producers and must be investigated,” Sombke said.

The Senate Ag Committee called the hearing following a dramatic downswing in U.S. cattle markets following a fire at a Tyson Foods beef processing plant in Holcomb, Kansas.

Sombke urges South Dakotans to reach out to our Congressional leaders, asking them to develop policies for transparency in price reporting and to include COOL in trade negotiations.

Contact your Congressional Leaders today:

Representative Dusty Johnson
202 225 2801
855 225 2801
[email protected]

Senator Mike Rounds
202 224 5842
844 875 5268
[email protected]

Senator John Thune
202 224 2321
866 850 3855
thune.senate.gov