Today, NCBA vice president and South Dakota rancher Todd Wilkinson testified before the U.S. House Agriculture Committee. Wilkinson addressed the need to avoid one-size-fits-all policy prescriptions, and the importance of considering nuanced policies that properly address transparency, processing capacity, price discovery and oversight in the cattle markets.
“As producers struggle to get by, large meatpackers have realized record-breaking windfall profits. These profits have not been shared equitability with cattle producers,” Wilkinson said. “Because the challenges facing our industry are so diverse, it is imperative that policy makers at all levels of government remain focused on viable and tenable solutions with vast industry buy-in.”
Wilkinson urged Congress to resist one-size-fits-all policy prescriptions which may have disastrous unintended consequences and instead adopt a multi-pronged approach to bring relief to cattle producers, transparency to the markets and resiliency to the beef supply chain. Wilkinson’s testimony follows months of NCBA engagement with members of Congress on complex cattle market conditions and ensure that policy solutions address the correct issues without harming producers or their profitability.
To view Wilkinson’s testimony, please visit agriculture.house.gov or click here to access the live stream.