Twenty-nine farm and rural groups agreed that livestock price reporting should be mandatory but did not specifically endorse fast-track trade negotiating authority, biotechnology or loan rate increases.

The groups spanned a wide spectrum from commodity organizations to religious alliances.  Meeting in St. Louis at the behest of the National Farmers Union, they endorsed a number of “safety net” steps including increased funding for farm operating loans and a group of commodity-specific steps.

No agreement emerged, though, on whether loan rates should be adjusted to remove perceived incentives for excessive soybean production.  Nor was there unanimity on fast-track trade authority, country-of-origin labeling for imported meat or science-based biotechnology regulation.

Support for mandatory price reporting increases the already-good chance that some form of the concept will be legislated this year.  Today, a House hearing may reveal what agreements, if any, have been reached among producer and packer groups negotiating on the issue.