According to the National Pork Producers Council, which had lobbied for the law, said the Livestock Mandatory Reporting is administered by USDA to provide information to producers, packers and other market participants on pricing, contracting for purchase and supply and demand conditions for livestock, livestock production and livestock products.
Packers have been voluntarily reporting livestock prices since the law expired Sept. 30, 2005, the NPPC said.
The reauthorized price reporting law, which will take effect July 15, 2008, includes three enhancements to the pork reporting provisions:
• More sows are included in pricing reports to more accurately reflect the sales and prices paid in the sow market.
• Changes in the timing for data reporting to help USDA with its workload and, thus, to increase report accuracy and efficiency.
• USDA may publish price distributions for net prices to provide more information that is more reflective of market situations.
