Washington, D.C. – Today U.S. Representatives Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.), Frank Lucas (R-OK), and Liz Cheney (R-WY), introduced the Livestock Risk Management and Education Act, a bill that would provide grants to certain state land-grant universities to better equip livestock producers with risk management training.

The Livestock Risk Management and Education Act would authorize the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) to provide resources to improve livestock producers’ knowledge of futures markets to better manage market volatility. An understanding of futures contracts and risk management strategies will allow producers both large and small to better anticipate cattle prices. This new authority would allow land-grant universities, such as South Dakota State University, to partner with grower associations to more directly reach producers.

“Producers already face an uphill battle of unpredictable weather, understanding cattle prices doesn’t need to be an added challenge,” said Rep. Johnson. “The Livestock Risk Management and Education Act will supply producers with the tools needed to anticipate highs and lows in the futures markets. I’m proud to partner with my colleagues from cattle country to help best prepare our Ag economy and producers for the future.”

“While we’ve seen tremendous signs of a strong economy- witnessing record declines in unemployment and rising wages across America- sadly, our nation’s farm industry continues to face challenging times, leaving our producers vulnerable to disruptions provoked by market instability and other factors,” said Rep. Frank Lucas.

Lucas continued, “Livestock producers across the country have faced years of uncertainty and, like others, need every tool within their belt to manage risk and sharpen their ability to weather the market’s uncertainty. I’m proud to join Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.) and Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) as a cosponsor of the Livestock Risk Management and Education Act, ensuring that our livestock producers have the resources they need to better utilize risk management strategies as they overcome market volatility. Our producers rise to the challenge day in and day out and the Livestock Risk Management and Education Act would help provide stability for those that feed billions across the globe.”

“I am pleased to join Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.) in his legislation to provide funds to improve available resources and educational materials for producers from land grant institutions,” said Rep. Liz Cheney. “With ever-changing markets, this measure will enable land grant universities like the University of Wyoming to assist our producers in giving them the background they need to properly plan for the future.”

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