An Assessment of the Livestock Mandatory Reporting Act

Federal government funding for public price reporting began in 1914. Since then, most public market reporting for livestock and meat has relied on voluntary participation by market participants. Populist support in 1999 led to passage of the Livestock Mandatory Reporting Act which replaced the decades old voluntary reporting system with a mandatory system for livestock and meat. Questions were raised by policymakers and others in discussions of the Act's renewal as to effectiveness of the mandatory reporting system. This paper draws from available information to assess the Act's effectiveness since its initial implementation. Satisfaction or dissatisfaction with the Act depends on one's expectations for what the Act was to accomplish or problems the Act was argued to address. Mandatory price reporting for many - after a rocky start - has enhanced the transparency and accuracy of reported prices while increasing the amount and timeliness of information in some needed areas.