Montana Democratic Senator Jon Tester and Iowa Republican Chuck Grassley wrote a letter asking colleagues to help assure the strong enforcement of the Packers and Stockyards Act.
They’re asking other senators to oppose any policy rider in the 2024 Ag Appropriations Bill that would prevent the USDA from enforcing the Act to hold multi-national food manufacturers accountable.
“Four companies control over 80 percent of domestic beef processing, 60 percent of hog processing, and 50 percent of domestic poultry processing,” their letter says. “This level of concentration is bad for consumers and family farmers but good for the giant meat packers.”
They point out that the companies have reported record profits in the last few years while farmers and ranchers struggle to make ends meet and consumers are paying too much for proteins at the grocery store.
“Congress must reject any rider blocking USDA from implementing bipartisan reforms,” the letter says.
