The Obama Administration is proposing an overhaul of the antitrust rules for the meatpacking industry. According to Lancaster Farming (Feb. 12, p. A32) , these will be the toughest regulations since the Packers and Stockyards Act was passed 90 years ago. Current law allows giant companies like Tyson to set prices and even dictate the kind of farm buildings in which to raise the stock and the kind of feed to give the animals.
The new rules would allow farmers and ranchers to sue companies on antitrust grounds. Under the present law, farmers and ranchers must prove that competition was harmed in the entire industry. Under the new rules, individual growers could prove they were harmed.
The rules were proposed last June and were controversial from the beginning. With the new Republican House, opposition has grown. Of the 115 members of Congress who signed a letter opposing the new rules, 69 were Republicans and 46 were Democrats. The Republican signers have received a total of $28.4 million from the meatpacking industry; the 46 Democrats received 20.2 million.
The USDA can write these new regulations without Congress, but Congress may also deny funds for the USDA. No date has been set for the new rules to go into effect.
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