Glickman Announces Mandatory Livestock Price Reporting
                                                                
                                            Release No.  0081.00
                                                                
                                     Susan McAvoy (202) 720-4623
                                           susan.mcavoy@usda.gov
                                       Lena Hogan (202) 720-8998
                                             lena.hogan@usda.gov


GLICKMAN ANNOUNCES MANDATORY LIVESTOCK PRICE REPORTING

     WASHINGTON, March 14, 2000 In a move to help level the playing field for
small livestock producers, Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman today announced
that major livestock packers, livestock product processors and importers soon
will be required to report pricing details to the U.S. Department of
Agriculture.

     "We need to ensure that small farmers and ranchers have a full and fair
opportunity to compete in an increasingly concentrated agricultural economy,"
Glickman said.  "This new mandatory price reporting program will help
producers by making the market more transparent, giving them better
information about what's happening in the marketplace."

     USDA's proposed rule spells out who is required to report, what
information must be reported, and specific reporting times.  Those affected
are livestock packers and product processors and importers who slaughter an
average of 125,000 cattle, 100,000 swine, 75,000 lambs per year.  Importers
who annually import an average of 5,000 metric tons of lamb meat are also
required to report.

     At stipulated times of the day, affected packers, processors, and
importers must report to USDA the details of all transactions involving
purchases of:

       livestock,
       domestic and imported lamb carcasses, and
       imported lamb cuts.

     They also must report the details of all transactions involving:

       domestic and export sales of boxed beef cuts, including branded
product,
       sales of domestic and imported boxed lamb cuts, including branded
product, and
       purchases of imported boxed lamb cuts, including branded product.
     
     In many instances, mandatory reporting will provide USDA with new
information that has never been collected under the existing voluntary market
news reporting program.  Consequently, USDA is seeking input from the
livestock and meat industry on how this new information would best be reported
back to the industry, in order to assist small and medium sized livestock
operators in making sound market-based decisions..

     "I want to thank Senators Lugar, Daschle, Harkin, and Johnson for their
leadership on this important issue," said Glickman.

     The proposed rule, which will be published in the Federal Register March
17, will be open to public comment for 30 days.  Additional information is
available on the web at http://www.ams.usda.gov/lsg/price.htm.


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