Yesterday, Rep. Cindy Axne (IA03) heard testimony from independent cattle producers and then took their concerns directly to the CEOs of the four largest meatpacking companies during a House Agriculture Committee hearing on issues in the cattle industry.
“Today, consumers are literally paying more for their beef, producers are receiving less for their cattle, and yet your four companies’ net incomes have reached record highs,” Rep. Axne said to the CEOs. “This is simply not sustainable for producers or consumers. I’ve heard from too many in Iowa who are worried about their ability just to stay in operation and being able to pass it down to the next generation, just like their parents before them, so something has to change.”
Earlier in the hearing, the Committee heard testimony from Coy Young, a cow-calf producer from Missouri, who shared how dire the situation is for cattle producers and his testimony recounted how he considered taking his own life due to those challenges.
“Concentration and unfair practices in the beef industry in America is a huge and unprecedented problem and needs to be addressed before all the American cattle farmers and ranchers are no more,” Coy Young said in his written testimony. ”There have been historical amounts of family farms that have went by the wayside in the past 4 decades, losing an average of 14,700 family cattle farms annually; that’s a staggering 40.27 cattle farms per day that have to call it quits because they can no longer pay their bills or even break even. Billions of dollars have been stripped from rural communities that are dying in America…I almost called it quits completely, meaning completely and entirely by committing suicide in the Spring of 2020. I was going to end the pain and suffering that I’ve lived with for years knowing that I’ll be the last of my generation to be or have attempted to be a cattle farmer in a completely corrupt and rigged beef industry.”
Rep. Axne also asked Gilles Stockton, cattle rancher and current president of Montana Cattlemen’s Association, what has changed in his nearly 50 years as a rancher and what the future holds if Congress does not act.
“My income has been halved… my community is devastated. There is less than half as many ranches,” said Mr. Stockton. “I think the food security of your children and your grandchildren is in jeopardy.”
Watch the video of the producer panel here.
Last November, Rep. Axne introduced the bipartisan Cattle Price Discovery and Transparency Act to return fairness to the cattle markets dominated by the four major meatpackers. The legislation would establish regional mandatory minimums for the amount of weekly slaughter purchased in the cash market. Cash market sales, which typically form the base for alternative marketing arrangements, have been declining nationwide – resulting in less transparency and price discovery for producers.
During the hearing, Rep. Axne emphasized that together the four companies represented at the hearing account for over 80% of the cattle market, up from 25% in 1977. Over that time span, roughly 17,000 cattle producers have gone out of business each year, producers are receiving nearly 30 cents less of every dollar spent on beef by consumers, packing facilities have shuttered in rural communities, and cash trades have declined.
Watch the video of the packer panel here.
The four CEOs who attended the hearing were Dave MacLennan, CEO of Cargill; Tim Schellpepper, CEO of JBS USA; Timothy Klein, President and CEO of National Beef; and Donnie King, President and CEO of Tyson Foods.
Original source can be found here.
