{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.hoeven.senate.gov/news/news-releases/hoeven-working-to-improve-rancher-access-to-fair-and-competitive-markets-strengthen-livestock-disaster-programs", "Hoeven Working to Improve Rancher Access to Fair & Competitive Markets, Strengthen Livestock Disaster Programs", "2022-09-23", "2022", "2022-09", "Republican", "Senate", "ND", "John Hoeven", "H001061", "www.hoeven.senate.gov", "hoeven", "https://www.hoeven.senate.gov/news/news-releases", "scraper", "Hoeven Working to Improve Rancher Access to Fair & Competitive Markets, Strengthen Livestock Disaster Programs\n\nBISMARCK, N.D. \u2013 At the North Dakota Stockmen\u2019s Association annual meeting today, Senator John Hoeven discussed his efforts as the Ranking Member of the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Committee and a senior member of the Senate Agriculture Committee to:\n\nImprove ranchers\u2019 access tofair and competitive markets.\n\nThis includes securing language in Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 funding legislation to establish at the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) acattle contract library, which would help improve price transparency in cattle markets.\n\nStrengthenlivestock disaster programs, including the Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP), the Livestock Forage Program (LFP) and the Emergency Livestock Assistance Program (ELAP).\n\nHoeven recently hosted Senator John Boozman, Ranking Member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, in North Dakota for a discussion with local producers and commodity groups, giving them the opportunity toprovide direct input as work begins on the next farm bill.\n\nSecure funding for the Emergency Livestock Relief Program (ELRP), which is funded from the $750 million that Hoeven secured last September to aid livestock producers.\n\nUSDA began sending out ELRP phase-one assistance earlier and has paid out more than $600 million to producers.\n\n\u201cDue to the hard work of U.S. livestock producers, Americans have access to the highest-quality beef in the world, and as such, they deserve the opportunity to compete in a fair market,\u201d said Hoeven. \u201cThat\u2019s exactly what we\u2019re working to accomplish by establishing a cattle contract library and advancing other initiatives to create more transparent and competitive cattle markets. At the same time, our ranchers have faced significant challenges, including from last year\u2019s historic drought and severe spring weather, and we continue working to ensure they have the tools they need to recover.\u201d\n\nImproving Competition in Cattle Markets\n\nIn addition to advancing the cattle contract library, Hoeven worked to provide an additional $2 million in FY22 for AMS to enforce the Packers and Stockyards Act and has helped introduce legislation to:\n\nEstablish a new office at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to investigate, prosecute and bring civil or administrative actions for violations of the Packers and Stockyards Act.\n\nRequire that a minimum of 50 percent of a meat packer\u2019s weekly volume of beef slaughter be purchased on the open or spot market. The legislation is sponsored by Senators Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Jon Tester (D-Mont.).\n\nExpand ranchers\u2019 ability to provide more locally-produced meat to consumers by utilizing custom slaughterhouses.\n\nStrengthening Livestock Disaster Programs\n\nFurther, Hoeven is working to ensure livestock disaster programs effectively help ranchers to recover from losses due to natural disasters. After hearing producers\u2019 concerns at a roundtable discussion he held earlier this year, Hoeven began working with the Farm Service Agency (FSA) to update LIP national payment rates to reflect actual market rates.\n\nThe senator raised the issue to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and FSA Administrator Zach Ducheneaux, pressing them to adjust the program\u2019s rates and ensure it adequately covers losses due to eligible diseases. As a result, FSAupdated LIP payment rates for calves weighing less than 250 pounds, which are now valued the same as non-adult cattle weighing between 250 and 399 pounds and increased payment rates for calves under 400 pounds.\n\nHoeven also introduced bipartisan legislation with Senator Tester last year tobetter align coverage between the LFP and ELAP. The bill would permanently increase producer assistance under LFP to more accurately compensate them for feed costs, while specifying that transportation costs for feed and water are covered losses under ELAP.\n\n-###-", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:29:59Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.hoeven.senate.gov/news/news-releases/hoeven-working-to-improve-rancher-access-to-fair-and-competitive-markets-strengthen-livestock-disaster-programs"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.5113269910216331, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}