Chuck Grassley: “the goal of the farm bill was to improve the economic condition of America's farmers over the next few years. However…”

“the goal of the farm bill was to improve the economic condition of America's farmers over the next few years. However one of the many shortcomings of the new law is that it fails to protect family farmers and independent livestock producers from vertical integration in the livestock industry. In recent years, family farmers from across Iowa have contacted me to express their fears about the threat they fell from concentration in the livestock industry. They fear that if the trend toward increased concentration continues, they may be unable to compete effectively and will not be able to get a fair price for their livestock in the marketplace. The bill I am introducing would prevent meat packers from assuming complete control of the meat supply by preventing packers from owning livestock. This bill would make it unlawful for a packer to own or feed livestock intended for slaughter. Single pack entities and packs too small to participate in the Mandatory Price Reporting program would be excluded from the limitation. In addition, farmer cooperatives in which the members own, feed, or control the livestock themselves would be exempt under this new bill. We have tightened down the limitations in this new version of the packer ban.”