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To direct the Secretary of Agriculture to amend certain regulations to clarify that livestock auction owners may have an interest in small meatpacking businesses, and for other purposes.
Summary
This bill directs the Secretary of Agriculture to amend regulations to allow livestock auction owners to have ownership interests in, finance, or participate in managing small meatpacking operations. Specifically, market agencies may have such interests in packers that slaughter fewer than 2,000 cattle or sheep per day (or 700,000 per year) or fewer than 10,000 hogs per day (or 3,000,000 per year). Market agencies with such interests must disclose this relationship to livestock sellers. The Secretary retains authority to enforce rules protecting producers, ensuring fair competition, and preventing conflicts of interest under the Packers and Stockyards Act.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
- Rep. Alford, Mark [R-MO-4] (R-MO)
23 cosponsors
- Rep. Bacon, Don [R-NE-2] (R-NE)
- Rep. Barr, Andy [R-KY-6] (R-KY)
- Rep. Davids, Sharice [D-KS-3] (D-KS)
- Rep. Davis, Donald G. [D-NC-1] (D-NC)
- Rep. Feenstra, Randy [R-IA-4] (R-IA)
- Rep. Finstad, Brad [R-MN-1] (R-MN)
- Rep. Graves, Sam [R-MO-6] (R-MO)
- Rep. Harris, Mark [R-NC-8] (R-NC)
- Rep. Hinson, Ashley [R-IA-2] (R-IA)
- Rep. Huffman, Jared [D-CA-2] (D-CA)
- Rep. Johnson, Dusty [R-SD-At Large] (R-SD)
- Rep. Miller, Mary E. [R-IL-15] (R-IL)
- Rep. Moore, Barry [R-AL-1] (R-AL)
- Rep. Panetta, Jimmy [D-CA-19] (D-CA)
- Rep. Rose, John W. [R-TN-6] (R-TN)
- Rep. Rouzer, David [R-NC-7] (R-NC)
- Rep. Schmidt, Derek [R-KS-2] (R-KS)
- Rep. Smith, Adrian [R-NE-3] (R-NE)
- Rep. Sorensen, Eric [D-IL-17] (D-IL)
- Rep. Taylor, David J. [R-OH-2] (R-OH)
- Rep. Tokuda, Jill N. [D-HI-2] (D-HI)
- Rep. Vasquez, Gabe [D-NM-2] (D-NM)
- Rep. Vindman, Eugene Simon [D-VA-7] (D-VA)
Actions (3)
- Mar 28, 2025 Referred to the Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry. · house
- Feb 27, 2025 Referred to the House Committee on Agriculture. · house
- Feb 27, 2025 Introduced in House
Similar bills (6)
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Text versions (1)
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Full text
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 27, 2025
Mr. Alford (for himself, Mr. Panetta, Mr. Johnson of South Dakota, Mr. Rouzer, Mr. Graves, Ms. Tokuda, Mr. Vasquez, Mr. Smith of Nebraska, Mr. Davis of North Carolina, Mr. Feenstra, Mr. Finstad, and Mr. Moore of Alabama) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture
A BILL
To direct the Secretary of Agriculture to amend certain regulations to clarify that livestock auction owners may have an interest in small meatpacking businesses, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “Amplifying Processing of Livestock in the United States Act” or the “A-PLUS Act”.
SEC. 2. AMPLIFYING PROCESSING OF LIVESTOCK IN THE UNITED STATES (A- PLUS).
(a) In General.—Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall revise section 201.67 of title 9, Code of Federal Regulations, as in effect on January 1, 2025, to specify that—
(1) market agencies may have an ownership interest in, finance, or participate in the management or operation of, a packer, so long as such packer—
(A) with respect to cattle and sheep, has a cumulative slaughter capacity of less than—
(i) 2,000 animals per day; or
(ii) 700,000 animals per year; and
(B) with respect to hogs, has a cumulative slaughter capacity of less than—
(i) 10,000 animals per day; or
(ii) 3,000,000 animals per year; and
(2) market agencies that have an ownership interest in, finance, or participate in the management or operation of, a packer shall disclose to sellers of livestock the existence of such ownership interest, financial relationship, or participation.
(b) Savings Clause.—Nothing in this section shall be interpreted as a limitation on the authority of the Secretary to adopt or enforce rules or regulations under the Packers and Stockyards Act, 1921 (7 U.S.C. 181 et seq.) related to the protection of producers, competition, market integrity, or the prevention of conflicts of interest. <all>
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