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WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) sent a letter to Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and Ranking Member John Boozman (R-AR) yesterday urging them to convene a committee hearing to examine legislative proposals for improving transparency and competition in the meatpacking industry.
“Four companies, two of which are foreign-owned, control ~85 percent of the beef processed in the United States,” said Senator Cramer. “These companies are uniquely situated to control the input of cattle they buy from ranchers through the four primary transaction types, and based on those controlled inputs, control the supply available to downstream purchasers. Put simply, when adequate price discovery is not present, packers have the ability to suppress the value of cattle while increasing the price downstream to the consumer.”
In his letter, Senator Cramer outlined the state of the industry and the need for increased competition to address ongoing problems. The senator also highlighted a recent Executive Order by the President directing federal departments including the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to look for ways to strengthen America’s supply chains.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed serious gaps in our supply chain, leaving customers with higher costs and less choice. Reforms are needed now. It is a disservice to both producers and consumers for Congress to become entrenched in preferred policy positions while no solutions are actually pursued,” concluded Senator Cramer. “I respectfully ask you hold a hearing so we can start making meaningful progress on this critical issue.”
Senator Cramer supports multiple bills aimed at addressing the problems in the meatpacking industry, such as the Strengthening Local Processing Act of 2021, New Markets for State-Inspected Meat and Poultry Act of 2021, and Processing Revival and Intrastate Meat Exemption (PRIME) Act.
Click here to read the letter.