Mike Enzi: “I will speak on a favorite topic of our area of the country, the packer concentration. It is a huge problem for our…”

“I will speak on a favorite topic of our area of the country, the packer concentration. It is a huge problem for our ranchers in keeping them from getting what they should be getting for raising the livestock for this country. So I rise to introduce a bill that amends the Packers and Stockyards Act to reform livestock formula price contracts. This bill aims to rid the livestock industry of pricing schemes which take advantage of hard-working ranchers. It requires contracts to contain a fixed base price and to be traded in open public markets. Currently, there are four packers that slaughter 80 percent of the cattle in the United States. They hold the supply of livestock captive in a number of ways. Captive supply is when packers either own livestock or contract to purchase livestock more than 2 weeks before slaughter. Packers use captive supply to ensure their slaughter lines have consistent inventory. But packers go beyond good organization and business performance to market manipulation. I have been working on this problem for 5 years and, so far, all we have been able to do is prove that there is a packer concentration.”