Source: United States Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND)
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WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) joined Fox Business’ Cavuto: Coast to Coast to discuss consolidation in the meatpacking industry and opportunities to expand processing options for ranchers. Excerpts and full video are below.
On Meatpacking Industry Concentration:
“Well, Neil, whether it’s that coordinated or not, there is in my view a concentration problem. When four packers have 85% of the market and two of the four packers are foreign-owned that is at least worth looking into. For me personally, the way I prefer to tackle this problem is to knock down barriers to entry for other producers, for other packers, for smaller more state or regional packers [who] provide an opportunity for more customized beef or other livestock. But I don’t completely let these big packers off the hook because they are vertically integrated and they have an awful lot of market power.”
“We have a relatively new facility in fact, in southwestern North Dakota. It started up to combat some of this and to provide an alternative market. You have to remember North Dakota is the furthest from the big packers of just about any state that produces beef so we do have some additional challenges with our proximity.”
On Solutions:
“We also have this ongoing battle about whether a rancher or a producer ought to have the opportunity to market directly to a specific packer in more of a forward fashion as opposed to a day-to-day market or auction. I think producers ought to have those options available to them. I’d just like to offer more options in the form of smaller opportunities, smaller producers, more customized producers.”
“One of the problems you have is the lack of inspectors from the USDA. North Dakota is one state that happens to have a federally recognized state inspector program. I think more of that kind of thing, offering the opportunity for selling state-inspected beef across state lines might be one way to go.”
Background:
In March 2020, Senator Cramer joined a letter with Senator Mike Rounds (R-SD), Senator Steve Daines (R-MT), and Senator John Hoeven (R-ND) requesting the Department of Justice (DOJ) investigate the meatpacking industry for compliance with antitrust law. He also signed multiple other letters on the topic and encouraged then-President Donald Trump to direct the DOJ to examine the beef market for antitrust activity which the President later did. The DOJ investigation into antitrust activity is currently ongoing.
In May 2021, Senator Cramer sent a letter to Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and Ranking Member John Boozman (R-AR) urging them to convene a committee hearing to examine legislative proposals for improving transparency and competition in the meatpacking industry. In his letter, Senator Cramer outlined the state of the industry and the need for increased competition to address ongoing problems.
Last Congress, Senator Cramer supported multiple bills aimed at addressing the problems in the meatpacking industry, such as the Strengthening Local Processing Act of 2021, New Markets for State-Inspected Meat and Poultry Act of 2021, and Processing Revival and Intrastate Meat Exemption (PRIME) Act.