North Dakota Ag Connection - NDFU Praises Effort to Ban Packer Ownership of Livestock

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NDFU Praises Effort to Ban Packer Ownership of Livestock
North Dakota Ag Connection - 05/26/2016

North Dakota Farmers Union praised recent legislation that was introduced in Congress to make it unlawful for a meatpacker to own, feed or control livestock intended for slaughter.

"Competition in the marketplace or the lack of it greatly impacts the price ranchers are paid locally for their livestock," said NDFU President Mark Watne. "The fewer buyers at the sales barn, the lower the price is generally."

Watne said when meatpackers are allowed to own their own captive supply of animals from birth through slaughter and then market them wholesale, they drive prices down by bypassing the public bidding process for animals.

"This hurts family farmers and ranchers and is not a true representation of their livestock's worth," he said.

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) who introduced the legislation, noted, "An effective and efficient marketplace is one where packers that control all harvest capacity of the industry do not also own a majority of the animals to be processed. The fact of the matter is that the market continues to become less competitive [in this situation]."

The most current data available shows four companies controlling 82 percent of steer and heifer slaughter in the U.S. and 1.9 million head of cattle in captive supply in production feedlots

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