WASHINGTON, D.C. (RFD-TV) — Congress is on break until after the midterm elections, but farm country is already looking ahead to unfinished business, including the Farm Bill.
The Senate plan includes mandatory country-of-origin labeling, or M-COOL, a proposal that has divided some agricultural groups.
Ethan Lane with the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association says the group opposes the measure, arguing it would raise costs for cattle producers and consumers without increasing demand.
“The logic of, in an environment where producers are complaining about high input costs and high cost to produce that product, the same time that everyone is focused on lowering consumer prices, M-COOL would do two things right away. It would raise costs for producers to comply with it, and it would raise the price of our product for consumers at the store. What it wouldn’t do is drive demand.”
A study earlier this year by Decision Innovation Solutions looked back at the 2013 M-COOL framework, warning that a similar plan could cost $1 billion annually and lead consumers to pay significantly more for beef and pork.
The previous M-COOL requirements for beef and pork were repealed by Congress in 2015.
