Ag Committee Approves Cattle Legislation

By voice votes, the Senate Agriculture Committee approved the Cattle Price Transparency Act of 2022 and the Meat and Poultry Special Investigator Act. During the hearing, South Dakota Senator John Thune said South Dakota agriculture groups are divided on these bills, but are generally unified about mandatory Country of Origin Labeling. “We label everything in this country, except the thing we put in the center of our plates, beef and pork.” Thune filed amendments to both bills dealing with MCOOL, but did not force a vote during the markup. Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow responded to Thune’s decision. “I believe strongly we should be able to figure out a way to do this that relates to WTO compliance.”Both bills will now be considered by the full Senate.