During the Cattle Industry Convention in Nashville, the NCBA Live Cattle Marketing Committee met to talk about recent market disparities and what can be done on a grassroots level to find industry and market-driven solutions.
Bozeman cattle producer Jim Fryer is the committee’s chairman and talked about the committee’s work.
“Today was really a good demonstration of everyone coming together,” said Fryer. “After the last arduous year and a half, many of us put in 20-30 hours of work per week just on NCBA issues last spring with Covid. But we're now seeing the fruits of that labor. Some of the issues we talked about were supporting packer capacity expansion and some of the bills that are in in the House and the Senate that are addressing those issues and trying to make sure we get the capacity we need for the supplies we have.”
He says working with the CME and CFTC regarding market transparency is a top priority of the committee.
“This meeting was a bit of a capstone for some of the big projects we've had recently,” said Fryer. “I'd like to bring back discussions with the CME. That's been a standard part of our committee over the years. But we've set aside a moment. So, we need to get back to that along with talking again with the CFTC to make sure the markets are viable and sound and we have good operators behind the screens.”
The Live Cattle Marketing Committee did put forth a new resolution and directive which pertains to CME Group Live Cattle and Feeder Cattle Futures Contract price limits. It states NCBA supports the use of expanded price limits following a limit-move event but opposes formula-based variable price limits as a means to expand daily limits within the contracts.
NCBA says formula-based limits can cause confusion, which could lead to less use of risk management tools.
The next meeting of the NCBA Live Cattle Marketing Committee will be in Houston, Texas next February during the 2022 Cattle Industry Convention.
