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FB: Livestock Market Oversight Must Change
USAgNet - 04/18/2007
Competitive livestock markets and a transparent agricultural marketplace are vital to sustaining the livelihoods of U.S. farmers and ranchers, the American Farm Bureau Federation told Congress on Tuesday.
"Consolidation and concentration within the agricultural sector could have adverse economic impacts on U.S. farmers and ranchers," said AFBF President Bob Stallman in testimony presented to a subcommittee of the House Agriculture Committee. "It is important that markets be accessible to all producers and that they offer competitive prices."
The landscape has changed tremendously for crop and livestock producers in recent decades, both in terms of input costs and in how they market their finished livestock, grain and fiber, according to AFBF.
Stallman cited trends that illustrate this, including the share of steer and heifer slaughter for the four largest beef packers increasing from 36 percent to 80 percent from 1980 to 2004 and the share of hog slaughter for the four largest packers increasing from 32 percent to 64 percent from 1985 to 2004. He also noted that four companies currently control 50 percent of the market for broilers, while the three largest soybean processors control more than 70 percent of that market.
The potential impact of increased use of alternative marketing arrangements (AMAs) on cash cattle and hog markets also concerns Farm Bureau members. According to a recent report commissioned by the Grain Inspection Packers and Stockyards Administration, AMAs are associated with lower cash market prices, with a much larger effect for finished hogs compared to fed cattle.
Stallman urged the subcommittee to consider enhancing the Agriculture Department's oversight of the Packers and Stockyards Act, through the establishment of an Office of Special Counsel for Competition with a designated agricultural counsel.
wisconsinagconnection.com
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NFU President Testifies Against Market Concentration before House Committee
Southwest Nebraska News
04/18/2007 7:33:22 AM
National Farmers Union President Tom Buis testified before the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy and Poultry today on the negative effects of increased concentration and lack of competition in the agricultural marketplace and the need for Congress to take action in the next farm bill through a competition title.
Buis cited an NFU-commissioned study conducted by Drs. Mary Hendrickson and William Heffernan from the University of Missouri which found that concentration in every sector of agriculture increased, with the exception of ethanol. NFU released the study Monday. Buis credited the decrease of consolidation in the ethanol market to public policy initiatives that encourage diversification and discourage monopolization.
Buis called on Congress to immediately take necessary action to restore true competition in the marketplace for American farmers and ranchers. "Independent producers cannot be successful in the absence of protection from unfair and anti-competitive practices," he said.
Buis outlined the provisions NFU would like to see included as part of a comprehensive competition title in the 2007 Farm Bill:
-Immediate implementation of mandatory country-of-origin labeling (COOL) for meat, produce and peanuts.
-Require USDA and all federal agencies enforce the Packers and Stockyards Act and other antitrust laws.
-Ban packer ownership of livestock to ensure independent producers have a place in the future of livestock production.
-Restore competition by requiring contracts be traded in open, transparent and public markets where all buyers and sellers have access to the same information.
-Stronger oversight and better enforcement of the Livestock Mandatory Price Reporting Act.
-End the ban on interstate shipment of meat to increase competition and economic, marketing and trade opportunities for rural America.
-Reform mandatory checkoff programs to become a truly voluntary program that earns producers' support and trust.
-Enhance contract producer protections by allowing producers adequate time to review contracts, prohibit mandatory arbitration, protect producers based upon membership in an organization or cooperative and prohibit confidentiality clauses.
swnebr.net
USAgNet - 04/18/2007
Competitive livestock markets and a transparent agricultural marketplace are vital to sustaining the livelihoods of U.S. farmers and ranchers, the American Farm Bureau Federation told Congress on Tuesday.
"Consolidation and concentration within the agricultural sector could have adverse economic impacts on U.S. farmers and ranchers," said AFBF President Bob Stallman in testimony presented to a subcommittee of the House Agriculture Committee. "It is important that markets be accessible to all producers and that they offer competitive prices."
The landscape has changed tremendously for crop and livestock producers in recent decades, both in terms of input costs and in how they market their finished livestock, grain and fiber, according to AFBF.
Stallman cited trends that illustrate this, including the share of steer and heifer slaughter for the four largest beef packers increasing from 36 percent to 80 percent from 1980 to 2004 and the share of hog slaughter for the four largest packers increasing from 32 percent to 64 percent from 1985 to 2004. He also noted that four companies currently control 50 percent of the market for broilers, while the three largest soybean processors control more than 70 percent of that market.
The potential impact of increased use of alternative marketing arrangements (AMAs) on cash cattle and hog markets also concerns Farm Bureau members. According to a recent report commissioned by the Grain Inspection Packers and Stockyards Administration, AMAs are associated with lower cash market prices, with a much larger effect for finished hogs compared to fed cattle.
Stallman urged the subcommittee to consider enhancing the Agriculture Department's oversight of the Packers and Stockyards Act, through the establishment of an Office of Special Counsel for Competition with a designated agricultural counsel.
wisconsinagconnection.com
-------------------------------------------------------
NFU President Testifies Against Market Concentration before House Committee
Southwest Nebraska News
04/18/2007 7:33:22 AM
National Farmers Union President Tom Buis testified before the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy and Poultry today on the negative effects of increased concentration and lack of competition in the agricultural marketplace and the need for Congress to take action in the next farm bill through a competition title.
Buis cited an NFU-commissioned study conducted by Drs. Mary Hendrickson and William Heffernan from the University of Missouri which found that concentration in every sector of agriculture increased, with the exception of ethanol. NFU released the study Monday. Buis credited the decrease of consolidation in the ethanol market to public policy initiatives that encourage diversification and discourage monopolization.
Buis called on Congress to immediately take necessary action to restore true competition in the marketplace for American farmers and ranchers. "Independent producers cannot be successful in the absence of protection from unfair and anti-competitive practices," he said.
Buis outlined the provisions NFU would like to see included as part of a comprehensive competition title in the 2007 Farm Bill:
-Immediate implementation of mandatory country-of-origin labeling (COOL) for meat, produce and peanuts.
-Require USDA and all federal agencies enforce the Packers and Stockyards Act and other antitrust laws.
-Ban packer ownership of livestock to ensure independent producers have a place in the future of livestock production.
-Restore competition by requiring contracts be traded in open, transparent and public markets where all buyers and sellers have access to the same information.
-Stronger oversight and better enforcement of the Livestock Mandatory Price Reporting Act.
-End the ban on interstate shipment of meat to increase competition and economic, marketing and trade opportunities for rural America.
-Reform mandatory checkoff programs to become a truly voluntary program that earns producers' support and trust.
-Enhance contract producer protections by allowing producers adequate time to review contracts, prohibit mandatory arbitration, protect producers based upon membership in an organization or cooperative and prohibit confidentiality clauses.
swnebr.net
