S 813 — A bill to amend the Packers and Stockyards Act, 1921, to make it unlawful for a packer to own, feed, or control livestock intended for slaughter.

Summary

This bill amends the Packers and Stockyards Act, 1921 to prohibit livestock packers from owning, controlling, or feeding livestock to such an extent that the producer no longer materially participates in the management of the operation with respect to the production of the livestock. The bill includes exceptions for: (1) livestock held for not more than seven days before slaughter; (2) certain cooperatives that own, control, or feed livestock and provide such livestock for slaughter; (3) packers that are not required to report price and quantity information on each reporting day; or (4) packers that own one livestock processing plant.

Bill Text

• Introduced Introduced in Senate Current html April 04, 2017

Compared against current U.S. Code AI-generated reading aid — verify against the official bill.

The bill makes it unlawful for packers to own, feed, or control livestock intended for slaughter, while creating specific exceptions.

• 7 U.S.C. 192

  (f) Own or feed livestock directly, through a subsidiary, or through an arrangement that gives the packer operational, managerial, or supervisory control over the livestock, or over the farming operation that produces the livestock, to such an extent that the producer is no longer materially participating in the management of the operation with respect to the production of the livestock, except that this subsection shall not apply to-- (1) an arrangement entered into within 7 days (excluding any Saturday or Sunday) before slaughter of the livestock by a packer, a person acting through the packer, or a person that directly or indirectly controls, or is controlled by or under common control with, the packer; (2) a cooperative or entity owned by a cooperative, if a majority of the ownership interest in the cooperative is held by active cooperative members that-- (A) own, feed, or control livestock; and (B) provide the livestock to the cooperative for slaughter; (3) a packer that is not required to report to the Secretary on each reporting day (as defined in section 212 of the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 (7 U.S.C. 1635a)) information on the price and quantity of livestock purchased by the packer; or (4) a packer that owns 1 livestock processing plant; or

  This adds a provision that explicitly prohibits packers from owning or controlling livestock under certain conditions.

• 7 U.S.C. 192

  (f) → (g)

  This redesignates existing subsection (f) to (g) to accommodate the new provision.

• 7 U.S.C. 192

  (g) → (h)

  This redesignates existing subsection (g) to (h) to accommodate the new provision.

• 7 U.S.C. 192

  or (e) → (e), or (f)

  This modifies subsection (h) to include the new prohibition against packers owning or controlling livestock.

Action History

1. April 04, 2017

   Introduced in Senate

2. April 04, 2017

   Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.

Sponsors

• Chuck Grassley · Primary
• Claire McCaskill · Cosponsor

Subjects