President Donald Trump has called for an investigation into possible price fixing and other violations in the beef packing industry. R-CALF USA CEO Bill Bullard said the timing aligns with the organization’s current lawsuit involving the packing sector.
“Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer will be introducing legislation to break up the packers. The first thing they were going to do was prohibit packers from maintaining separate species within their production cycle. In other words, where the large packers now control beef, pork, and chicken, apparently, this bill is going to require them to select just one. Large packers can only have one line of meat protein.”
The legislation would also set limits on concentration in both regional and national cattle markets. Oversight authority would also fall under the Federal Trade Commission.
“We’ve got an antitrust issue being worked through in the judicial system. We have the executive branch, which has been calling for investigations into the concentration issue, and now we have Congress weighing in. So, all three branches of government are now intensely focused on this issue of unprecedented concentration that is limiting competition within the entire beef supply chain. And of course, that is harmful.”