[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2792 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2792

    To amend the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 to require the 
   Secretary of Agriculture to procure a minimum amount of meat and 
 poultry products from small meat processors and to develop a digital 
          livestock exchange platform, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 13, 2023

 Mr. Fetterman introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
   referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To amend the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 to require the 
   Secretary of Agriculture to procure a minimum amount of meat and 
 poultry products from small meat processors and to develop a digital 
          livestock exchange platform, 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 ``Strengthening Local Meat Economies 
Act of 2023''.

SEC. 2. PROCUREMENT OF MEAT AND POULTRY.

    Subtitle A of the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 (7 U.S.C. 1621 
et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 210B. PROCUREMENT OF MEAT AND POULTRY.

    ``(a) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) Digital livestock exchange platform.--The term 
        `digital livestock exchange platform' has the meaning given the 
        term in section 210C(a).
            ``(2) Eligible processor.--The term `eligible processor' 
        means a livestock or poultry processor that--
                    ``(A) is engaged in the slaughter of livestock or 
                poultry;
                    ``(B)(i) employs fewer than 150 full-time 
                employees; or
                    ``(ii) processes less than 1,000,000 total pounds 
                of meat food product and poultry product per month;
                    ``(C) is not owned or in partnership with any 
                entity that--
                            ``(i) employs 150 or more full-time 
                        employees; or
                            ``(ii) processes 1,000,000 total pounds or 
                        more of meat food product and poultry product 
                        per month; and
                    ``(D) is not owned or in partnership with any 
                foreign entity.
            ``(3) Livestock.--The term `livestock' means cattle, sheep, 
        swine, and goats, whether alive or dead.
            ``(4) Meat food products.--The term `meat food products' 
        has the meaning given the term in section 2(a) of the Packers 
        and Stockyards Act, 1921 (7 U.S.C. 182).
            ``(5) Poultry.--The term `poultry' has the meaning given 
        the term in section 4 of the Poultry Products Inspection Act 
        (21 U.S.C. 453).
            ``(6) Poultry product.--The term `poultry product' has the 
        meaning given the term in section 4 of the Poultry Products 
        Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 453).
            ``(7) Secretary.--The term `Secretary' means the Secretary 
        of Agriculture.
    ``(b) Procurement Requirements.--In procuring meat food products 
and poultry products for the Department of Agriculture, the Secretary--
            ``(1) shall increase procurement of meat food products and 
        poultry products from eligible processors--
                    ``(A) in the first fiscal year that begins on or 
                after the date that is 1 year after the date of 
                enactment of this section, by an amount that is the 
                greater of--
                            ``(i) $50,000,000; and
                            ``(ii) 50 percent of the amount spent in 
                        the previous fiscal year for that procurement; 
                        and
                    ``(B) in the first fiscal year following the fiscal 
                year described in subparagraph (A), by an amount that 
                is the greater of--
                            ``(i) $100,000,000; and
                            ``(ii) 75 percent of the amount spent in 
                        the previous fiscal year for that procurement;
            ``(2) shall, in each fiscal year following the fiscal year 
        described in paragraph (1)(B), procure not less than 20 percent 
        of meat food products and poultry products from eligible 
        processors;
            ``(3) shall establish procurement contracts for the 
        procurement increases under paragraphs (1) and (2) through a 
        digital livestock exchange platform;
            ``(4) notwithstanding any other provision of law, shall not 
        accept the lowest possible bid on a meat food products or 
        poultry products procurement contract if that acceptance would 
        result in prices that would not be commercially viable for 
        eligible processors, as determined by the Secretary in 
        consultation with the advisory board established under section 
        210C(g) and using the data described in section 210C(d)(4);
            ``(5) shall post competitive or sole source contracts 
        exclusively to eligible processors through a digital livestock 
        exchange platform;
            ``(6) shall determine fair market price for meat food 
        products and poultry products processed by eligible processors 
        (taking into account product attributes such as organic, 
        regenerative, and high-welfare) through the price reporting 
        expertise of the Secretary; and
            ``(7) shall prioritize procurement from--
                    ``(A) enterprises owned by beginning farmers or 
                ranchers, socially disadvantaged farmers or ranchers, 
                or veteran farmers or ranchers (as those terms are 
                defined in section 2501(a) of the Food, Agriculture, 
                Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 
                2279(a)));
                    ``(B) enterprises that--
                            ``(i) source at least 51 percent of their 
                        livestock, poultry, meat food products, or 
                        poultry products from producers or processors 
                        within a 250-mile radius;
                            ``(ii) exclusively sell meat food products 
                        or poultry products with a label of the 
                        Department of Agriculture designating the 
                        product as a product of the United States, if 
                        such label exists; or
                            ``(iii) purchase at least 51 percent of 
                        their livestock, poultry, meat food products, 
                        or poultry products to fulfill Federal 
                        procurement contracts through a digital 
                        livestock exchange platform; and
                    ``(C) enterprises with labor agreements.
    ``(c) Interagency Assistance.--The Secretary shall assist other 
Federal agencies seeking to procure meat food products and poultry 
products by--
            ``(1) sharing information about the 1 or more digital 
        livestock exchange platforms;
            ``(2) offering technical assistance on how to utilize a 
        digital livestock exchange platform; and
            ``(3) facilitating through a digital livestock exchange 
        platform procurement contract opportunities with eligible 
        processors.
    ``(d) Offset.--Of amounts available to the Secretary for 
procurement in a fiscal year, the Secretary shall use not less than 
$35,000,000 to carry out procurement in accordance with this section.
    ``(e) Outreach.--The Secretary shall conduct outreach, and provide 
technical assistance, to eligible processors and producers of meat food 
products and poultry products seeking procurement contracts with the 
Federal Government.
    ``(f) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of 
this section, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report that--
            ``(1) describes all procurement of meat food products and 
        poultry products by the Department of Agriculture during the 
        preceding 5 years, including--
                    ``(A) the companies that those products were 
                sourced from; and
                    ``(B) by disaggregating information by categories 
                of slaughter volume and processed volume; and
            ``(2)(A) analyzes barriers to eligible processors engaging 
        in procurement contracts with the Department of Agriculture; 
        and
            ``(B) makes recommendations on how to remove those 
        barriers.''.

SEC. 3. DIGITAL LIVESTOCK EXCHANGE PLATFORM.

    Subtitle A of the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 (7 U.S.C. 1621 
et seq.) (as amended by section 2) is amended by adding at the end the 
following:

``SEC. 210C. DIGITAL LIVESTOCK EXCHANGE PLATFORM.

    ``(a) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) Digital livestock exchange platform.--The term 
        `digital livestock exchange platform' means a digital 
        application or website that fulfills the purposes and 
        activities described in subsection (d).
            ``(2) Eligible processor.--The term `eligible processor' 
        has the meaning given the term in section 210B(a).
            ``(3) Formula price.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The term `formula price' means 
                any price term that establishes a base from which a 
                purchase price is calculated on the basis of a price 
                that will not be determined or reported until a date 
                that is after the date on which the forward price is 
                established.
                    ``(B) Exclusions.--The term `formula price' does 
                not include--
                            ``(i) any price term that establishes a 
                        base from which a purchase price is calculated 
                        on the basis of a futures market price; or
                            ``(ii) any adjustment to the base for 
                        quality, grade, or other factors relating to 
                        the value of livestock that are readily 
                        verifiable market factors and are outside the 
                        control of the packer.
            ``(4) Forward contract.--The term `forward contract' means 
        an oral or written contract for the purchase of livestock that 
        provides for the delivery of the livestock to a packer at a 
        date that is more than 7 days after the date on which the 
        contract is entered into, without regard to whether the 
        contract is for--
                    ``(A) a specified lot of livestock; or
                    ``(B) a specified number of livestock over a 
                certain period of time.
            ``(5) Livestock.--The term `livestock' means cattle, sheep, 
        swine, and goats, whether alive or dead.
            ``(6) Meat food products.--The term `meat food products' 
        has the meaning given the term in section 2(a) of the Packers 
        and Stockyards Act, 1921 (7 U.S.C. 182).
            ``(7) Poultry.--The term `poultry' has the meaning given 
        the term in section 4 of the Poultry Products Inspection Act 
        (21 U.S.C. 453).
            ``(8) Poultry product.--The term `poultry product' has the 
        meaning given the term in section 4 of the Poultry Products 
        Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 453).
            ``(9) Secretary.--The term `Secretary' means the Secretary 
        of Agriculture, acting through the Administrator of the 
        Agricultural Marketing Service.
    ``(b) Establishment.--The Secretary shall enter into cooperative 
agreements with entities (including private entities, nonprofit 
organizations, and small businesses) to develop, as determined by the 
Secretary--
            ``(1) a single digital livestock exchange platform; or
            ``(2) multiple digital livestock exchange platforms by 
        region.
    ``(c) Status as Market Agency.--A digital livestock exchange 
platform shall be a market agency (as defined in section 301 of the 
Packers and Stockyards Act, 1921 (7 U.S.C. 201), except that livestock 
in paragraph (1) of that section shall include poultry) for purposes of 
that Act.
    ``(d) Purposes and Activities of Platform.--A digital livestock 
exchange platform shall--
            ``(1) facilitate open access to online cash transfer and 
        open bidding on forward contracts and procurement contracts 
        between--
                    ``(A) livestock and poultry producers;
                    ``(B) livestock and poultry producers and eligible 
                processors;
                    ``(C) livestock and poultry producers or eligible 
                processors and institutional, private sector, and 
                government buyers; and
                    ``(D) distributors of meat food products and 
                poultry products to institutional, private sector, and 
                government buyers;
            ``(2) facilitate ease of access to--
                    ``(A) Federal procurement opportunities for 
                eligible processors and producers of meat food products 
                and poultry products; and
                    ``(B) subcontracting opportunities by private 
                entities fulfilling Federal meat food products and 
                poultry products procurement contracts;
            ``(3) facilitate connection between producers and eligible 
        processors offering copacking services, so that producers may 
        fulfill governmental, retail, restaurant, or institutional 
        contracts directly;
            ``(4) facilitate reporting by the Secretary of regional 
        agricultural prices while ensuring data privacy and data 
        ownership for individual digital livestock exchange platform 
        participants;
            ``(5) provide open-source access for producers to a tool 
        that allows producers to enhance the traceability of their 
        product attributes;
            ``(6) aim to prevent manipulation within markets subject to 
        the Packers and Stockyards Act, 1921 (7 U.S.C. 191 et seq.), 
        and transactions across the livestock and poultry industry; and
            ``(7) test the value of new forms of technology, including 
        distributed ledger and smart contract technologies, in 
        livestock and poultry market platforms and supply chains, to 
        accomplish the objectives described in paragraphs (1) through 
        (6).
    ``(e) Compliant Forward Contracts.--
            ``(1) In general.--In effectuating any sale of livestock on 
        a digital livestock exchange platform, it shall be unlawful to 
        use a forward contract that--
                    ``(A) does not contain a firm base price that may 
                be equated to a fixed dollar amount on the date on 
                which the forward contract is entered into;
                    ``(B) is not offered for bid in an open, public 
                manner under which--
                            ``(i) buyers and sellers have the 
                        opportunity to participate in the bid;
                            ``(ii) more than 1 blind bid is solicited; 
                        and
                            ``(iii) buyers and sellers may witness bids 
                        that are made and accepted;
                    ``(C) is based on a formula price; or
                    ``(D) provides for the sale of livestock in a 
                quantity in excess of 50 animals.
            ``(2) Penalties.--Any participant that violates paragraph 
        (1) shall--
                    ``(A) be barred from participation in a digital 
                livestock exchange platform or for consideration for 
                any Federal meat food product or poultry product 
                procurement contract; and
                    ``(B) forfeit any existing Federal meat food 
                product or poultry product procurement contract for the 
                5-year period following the violation.
    ``(f) Prohibited Participation.--
            ``(1) Daily harvest volume.--A meatpacker that has a daily 
        harvest volume that is more than 5 percent of the national 
        daily harvest volume may not participate in a digital livestock 
        exchange platform, including by posting subcontracting 
        opportunities on the digital livestock exchange platform.
            ``(2) Eligible processors.--A meatpacker that is not an 
        eligible processor may not participate in a digital livestock 
        exchange platform, including by posting subcontracting 
        opportunities on the digital livestock exchange platform.
    ``(g) Outreach.--The Secretary shall conduct outreach through 
extension services regarding the availability and use of a digital 
livestock exchange platform.
    ``(h) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated to the Secretary to carry out subsection (b) $2,000,000, 
to remain available until expended.''.
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