WASHINGTON — Senate Agriculture Committee members Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Tina Smith (D-Minn.) introduced the Livestock Consolidation Research Act, which would seek further research on the impact of consolidation on farmers and ranchers as well as downstream impacts on consumers.
“Consolidation in the meat and poultry industry impacts Iowa producers and consumers alike, and right now, they’re feeling the squeeze,” Grassley said. “The current patchwork of available data isn’t enough to tackle this problem. Our bipartisan legislation will work to address ag concentration by providing farmers, ranchers and shoppers a full picture of how the market is working.”
Grassley said 85% of the beef market is currently controlled by four major processors. He and Smith argue that a lack of competition leads to farmers getting paid less for their products and consumers paying more for end products.
“Just a handful of large companies dominate the meat and poultry processing industry, which means higher prices for consumers and shrinking earnings for farmers,” Smith said. “On top of that, farmers and ranchers are dealing with the worst farm economy in thirty years, skyrocketing input costs and a cost-of-living crisis at home … Our bipartisan bill would bring to light the impact of this consolidation on farmers and consumers and help us create the best possible solutions to fix the problem.”
The senators are advocating for the bipartisan legislation to be included in the farm bill.
The Livestock Consolidation Research Act directs the US Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service to conduct the requested research.
The bill specifies the term livestock to include beef, dairy, pork, broiler, turkey and egg production.
The full bill is available here.
