President holds roundtable on competition in meat and poultry supply chain

Press releases

President Biden convened a roundtable Monday with farmers, ranchers, an independent poultry processor and members of his cabinet to discuss the need for greater competition in beef, pork and poultry processing and to announce the administration’s Action Plan for a Fairer, More Competitive, and More Resilient Meat and Poultry Supply Chain.

“In too many industries, a handful of giant companies dominate the market. And too often, they use their power to squeeze out smaller competitors and stifle new entrepreneurs, making our economy less dynamic and giving themselves free rein to raise prices, reduce options for consumers, or exploit workers,” Biden said. “The meat industry is a textbook example on the price side.”

Biden said four corporations control more than half the markets for beef, pork and poultry.

“Without meaningful competition, farmers and ranchers don’t get to choose who they sell to.  Or put another way, our farmers and ranchers have to pay whatever these four big companies say they have to pay, by and large. But that’s only half of it,” he said. “These companies can use their position as middlemen to overcharge grocery stores and, ultimately, families.”

Biden said he was at the roundtable with Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and Attorney General Merrick Garlad to talk about how his administration can create fairer markets and more opportunities for family farmers and ranchers and bring down the price at grocery stores.

Biden said the plan has four pieces. First, investing $1 billion in new and expanded meat and poultry processing capacity.

Second, Biden said, strengthening rules such as rewriting the rules under the Packers and Stockyards Act to protect farmers, ranchers, and other producers..

Third, enforcing existing competition laws.

And, fourth, bringing greater transparency to the industry, specifically on prices.

Biden said he is pleased to see Congress also taking action to increase competition and fairness to the ag industry, with a bipartisan group of senators working on legislation to make cattle markets more transparent.

He added that he is grateful of a bipartisan group of senators being willing to “come to the table” on the efforts, and specifically cited the work of Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., and Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, on the efforts.

Tester and Daines both issued statements after the roundtable.

“From my neighbors in Big Sandy to the White House, there is bipartisan consensus that consolidation by the corporate meat packers is putting family ranchers out of business, hurting consumers and jeopardizing our nation’s food security,” Tester said. “I’m glad the Biden administration is building on my bipartisan work to bring transparency and accountability to ag markets so that Montana ranchers get a fair shake at the farm gate and families can afford meat at the store. But Congress needs to act if we’re going to defend our way of life in rural America, and I’m calling on the Senate to immediately put my Meat Packing Special Investigator Act on the Floor for a vote, which will put teeth back in the Packers and Stockyards Act and give the administration the tools to hold the big packers accountable.”

“Montana ranchers must be able to compete on a level playing field,” Daines said. “I have long worked to address the unfair practices of the largest meat packers that are hurting Montana ranchers. While this is a welcome step forward from the administration, we must continue to fight to ensure ranchers are treated fairly in the marketplace and that packers are held accountable. I’m calling on President Biden to ensure a full and thorough investigation into the packers and allegations of price fixing and market manipulation and to work with me to pass my bills that will strengthen Product of the USA labeling laws, increase transparency in the cattle market, and create a special antitrust USDA investigator. Montana ranchers produce the best beef in the world, they deserve to be recognized for it, and I will continue to work to ensure they can compete fairly.”

Tester and Daines are sponsors or cosponsors on multiple bills now in Congress dealing with agricultural issues.

Ag, Justice departments state commitments to protect against unfair and anticompetitive practices

During the White House event focused on competition in agriculture, Vilsack and Garland expressed their shared commitment to effectively enforcing federal competition laws that protect farmers, ranchers, and other agricultural producers and growers from unfair and anticompetitive practices, including the antitrust laws and the Packers and Stockyards Act.

That will include the launch of a centralized accessible portal — a one-stop shop to report complaints of potential violations of our competition laws, including the Sherman and the Clayton Act, as well as the Packers and Stockyards Act. 

“Producers all across the country for too long have faced a marketplace that benefits a few large companies over those who are growing our food,” Vilsack said. “This means that consumers are paying more and farmers, ranchers and producers see less of the profits. The pandemic only further disrupted these challenges across the supply chain, exposing a food system that was rigid, consolidated and fragile. Antitrust and market regulatory enforcement is essential to enabling the competition necessary to transform our concentrated supply chains in favor of diversified, resilient food systems. These are complex, difficult areas of law, and our authorities are 100 years old or more, but I’m heartened by reaffirming our shared commitment to tackle these challenges together.”

“The Justice Department takes very seriously the responsibility we share with our partners across the federal government to protect consumers, safeguard competition, and ensure economic opportunity and fairness for all,” Garland said. “Over the past 10 months, we have stepped up our efforts to ensure competition and counter anticompetitive practices across sectors — from airlines to insurance brokers to book publishers. And we will continue to vigorously enforce our antitrust laws, no matter the industry, no matter the company, and no matter the individual.”

The Department of Agriculture and Department of Justice are already working together to support their respective enforcement efforts under these laws. As one step in that continuing process, today they released the following statement of principles and commitments:

1. Farmers, ranchers, and other producers and growers deserve the benefits of free and fair competition. The Justice Department and USDA therefore are prioritizing matters impacting competition in agriculture.

2. The agencies will jointly develop within 30 days a centralized, accessible process for farmers, ranchers, and other producers and growers to submit complaints about potential violations of the antitrust laws and the Packers and Stockyards Act. The agencies will protect the confidentiality of the complainants if they so request to the fullest extent possible under the law and also commit to supporting relevant whistleblower protections, including newly-applicable protections for criminal antitrust complainants against unlawful retaliation.

3. The agencies will work together to promote effective information sharing and case cooperation, including processes the agencies will follow to efficiently address a complaint.

4. Both agencies commit to vigorously enforce the laws that protect farmers, ranchers, and other producers and growers from unfair, deceptive, discriminatory, and anticompetitive practices. As appropriate, USDA will make reports or refer potential violations of the Packers and Stockyards Act to the Justice Department to better enable its Antitrust Division to pursue meritorious competition-related cases and to allow the agencies to collaborate on issues of mutual interest. Additionally, The Justice Department and USDA will work together to identify and highlight areas where Congress can help modernize these toolkits.