Senate adopts ban on packer ownership of livestock by Dan Murphy on 2/13/02 for www.meatingplace.com

The Senate voted yesterday not to table a revised version of the ban on packer ownership, feeding and control of livestock, according to news reports.

The revised version, sponsored primarily by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), stated that packers may not own or feed livestock, but may contract for livestock as long as they do not exert "managerial, operational or supervisory control" over either livestock or the farming operation to "such an extent that the producer is no longer materially participating in the management of the operation."

Attorneys who examined the hastily constructed amendment concluded that it does not give a clear green light to packer/producer contracts or marketing agreements, according to an analysis by the American Meat Institute.

“We are very disappointed in this vote," said J. Patrick Boyle, AMI president. “Senators who supported this amendment voted for a government-mandated dissolution of a U.S. meat and livestock sector that contributes more than $100 billion annually to the U.S. economy and employs more than one million workers in farming and processing.”

The Grassley amendment was supported by 53 senators and opposed by 46. Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) led the opposition to the Grassley amendment, arguing instead for his own amendment that would have stripped the packer ownership ban and replaced it with a nine-month study.

AMI and a coalition of producer groups led a two-month effort to support Craig's amendment, which was automatically withdrawn when the Grassley amendment passed.

Senators who voted against the Grassley amendment today included: Akaka (D-Hawaii), Allard (R-Colo.), Allen (R-Va.), Bayh (D-Ind.), Bennett (R-Utah), Bond (R-Mo.), Boxer (D-Calif.), Brownback (R-Kan.), Bunning (R-Ky.), Cleland (D-Ga.), Craig (R-Idaho), Crapo (R-Idaho), DeWine (R-Ohio), Edwards (D-N.C.), Ensign (R-Nev.), Feinstein (D-Calif.), Fitzgerald (R-Ill.), Frist (R-Tenn.), Gramm (R-Texas), Gregg (R-N.H.), Hatch (R-Utah), Helms (R-N.C.), Hutchinson (R-Ark.), Hutchison (R-Texas), Inhofe (R-Okla.), Inouye (R-Hawaii), Kyl (R-Ariz.), Lincoln (D-Ark.), Lott (R-Miss.), Lugar (R-Ind.), McCain (R-Ariz.), McConnell (R-Ky.), Miller (D-Ga.), Murkowski (R-Alaska), Nickles (R-Okla.), Roberts (R-Kan.), Santorum (R-Pa.), Schumer (D-N.Y.), Smith (R-Ore.), Snowe (R-Maine), Specter (R-Pa.), Stevens (R-Alaska), Thompson (R-Tenn.), Thurmond (R-S.C.), Voinovich (R-Ohio), Warner (R-Va.).

Sen. Byrd (D-WV) did not vote.

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