A House Agriculture Subcommittee met Wednesday morning to discuss the state of the beef supply chain. In opening comments, Committee Chairman Jim Costa reiterated the fact that many people don’t know where their food comes from. “A lot of people think food comes from the grocery store or their favorite restaurant. So therefore, I think we’ve learned that we’re vulnerable in a number of different ways.” Testimony was first heard from Jayson Lusk, an agricultural economist at Perdue University. “Don’t overly focus on today. Instead, make policies for the future.” Lusk identified three issues facing the industry: capacity, improved price transparency and policies that improve overall health of the cattle industry. Ranking Member Dusty Johnson of South Dakota asked about an additional 5,000 head of capacity coming online. “If so, what would be the impact on packer margins,” asked Johnson. “Expanding packing capacity would likely reduce packer margins,” said Dustin Aherin, animal protein analyst, RaboRearch. The House Ag Committee also discussed drought conditions, cybersecurity, market volatility and more. Similar discussions on the state of the cattle industry were held in the Senate Agriculture Committee last month. Legislation has been introduced in both chambers that offers up improvements for the sector. Listen to the story.