Title 7 — AgricultureRelease 119-73

§1635d Definitions

Title 7 › Chapter CHAPTER 38— - DISTRIBUTION AND MARKETING OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER II— - LIVESTOCK MANDATORY REPORTING › Part Part B— - Cattle Reporting › § 1635d

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

Defines key words used for rules about buying cattle for slaughter. "Cattle committed" means cattle set to be delivered to a packer within the 7-day period after a sale agreement. "Cattle type" covers fed steers, fed heifers, fed Holsteins and other fed dairy steers and heifers, cows, and bulls. "Formula marketing arrangement" means an advance promise to supply cattle for slaughter using a price that will be worked out later, not by a negotiated purchase or a forward contract. "Forward contract" means a purchase agreed before slaughter where the base price is tied to prices on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange or other similar public prices, or other forward contracts the Secretary says apply. "Packer" means a person or plant that buys cattle for slaughter or makes/markets meat, but only federally inspected processing plants that meet size or capacity rules (at least a 125,000-head average per year over the previous 5 calendar years, or considered by the Secretary based on plant capacity if it did not slaughter in those 5 years). "Packer-owned cattle" are cattle a packer has owned for at least 14 days immediately before slaughter. "Terms of trade" includes whether the packer financed the cattle, where delivery is to occur, whether the producer can pick the delivery date and time during the packer’s business day, and the percentage of negotiated purchases delivered to the plant more than 7 days but fewer than 14 days after the earlier of the commitment date or the purchase date. "Type of purchase" means a negotiated purchase, a formula market arrangement, or a forward contract.

Full Legal Text

Title 7, §1635d

Agriculture — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

In this part:

(1)The term “cattle committed” means cattle that are scheduled to be delivered to a packer within the 7-day period beginning on the date of an agreement to sell the cattle.

(2)The term “cattle type” means the following types of cattle purchased for slaughter:

(A)Fed steers.

(B)Fed heifers.

(C)Fed Holsteins and other fed dairy steers and heifers.

(D)Cows.

(E)Bulls.

(3)The term “formula marketing arrangement” means the advance commitment of cattle for slaughter by any means other than through a negotiated purchase or a forward contract, using a method for calculating price in which the price is determined at a future date.

(4)The term “forward contract” means—

(A)an agreement for the purchase of cattle, executed in advance of slaughter, under which the base price is established by reference to—

(i)prices quoted on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange; or

(ii)other comparable publicly available prices; or

(B)such other forward contract as the Secretary determines to be applicable.

(5)The term “packer” means any person engaged in the business of buying cattle in commerce for purposes of slaughter, of manufacturing or preparing meats or meat food products from cattle for sale or shipment in commerce, or of marketing meats or meat food products from cattle in an unmanufactured form acting as a wholesale broker, dealer, or distributor in commerce, except that—

(A)the term includes only a cattle processing plant that is federally inspected;

(B)for any calendar year, the term includes only a cattle processing plant that slaughtered an average of at least 125,000 head of cattle per year during the immediately preceding 5 calendar years; and

(C)in the case of a cattle processing plant that did not slaughter cattle during the immediately preceding 5 calendar years, the Secretary shall consider the plant capacity of the processing plant in determining whether the processing plant should be considered a packer under this part.

(6)The term “packer-owned cattle” means cattle that a packer owns for at least 14 days immediately before slaughter.

(7)The term “terms of trade” includes, with respect to the purchase of cattle for slaughter—

(A)whether a packer provided any financing agreement or arrangement with regard to the cattle;

(B)whether the delivery terms specified the location of the producer or the location of the packer’s plant;

(C)whether the producer is able to unilaterally specify the date and time during the business day of the packer that the cattle are to be delivered for slaughter; and

(D)the percentage of cattle purchased by a packer as a negotiated purchase that are delivered to the plant for slaughter more than 7 days, but fewer than 14 days, after the earlier of—

(i)the date on which the cattle were committed to the packer; or

(ii)the date on which the cattle were purchased by the packer.

(8)The term “type of purchase”, with respect to cattle, means—

(A)a negotiated purchase;

(B)a formula market arrangement; and

(C)a forward contract.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

7 U.S.C. § 1635d

Title 7 — Agriculture

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73