Post by benson on Feb 15, 2022 9:42:48 GMT
BILLINGS GAZETTE: BIDEN PRODS MEAT PACKING REFORMS TO START NEW YEAR
Responding to dwindling cattle profits and rising grocery store meat prices, the White House has announced it will invest $1 billion in local processors and revive made-in-the-U.S. meat labeling.
The announcement comes as ranchers enter a third year of low cattle prices, even as supermarket rates remain high. Additionally, President Joe Biden announced during a livestreamed discussion with farmers and ranchers that he would get behind legislation proposed by U.S. Sen. Jon Tester and others. Cash sales for Montana livestock were more than $1.5 billion in 2020, down $100 million from the previous year.
Observers worried that reforming the meat industry would prove tougher than a 10-cent pot roast.
"Fifty years ago, ranchers got over 60 cents for every dollar a family spent on beef. Today, they get about 39 cents," Biden said. "Fifty years ago, hog farmers got 40 to 50 cents for each dollar they spent. Today, it's about 19 cents. And the big companies are making massive profits. As their profits go up, the prices you see at grocery stores go up commensurate.
"The prices farmers receive for the products they are bringing to market go down," he said. "This reflects the market being distorted by lack of competition. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: capitalism without competition isn't capitalism, it's exploitation."
Four multi-national meatpacking companies control 85% of the beef market, which since 2019 hasn't given ranchers a sustainable price for cattle. A fire in the fall of 2019 at a Tyson meatpacking plant in Kansas somewhat limited processing space, which pushed ranchers taking calves to market into an economic bottleneck. With less room for cattle because of the fire, the price paid to ranchers for cattle decreased.
Then in January 2020, Russian hackers shut down JBS, and meat processing fell by 40,000 carcasses. That ransomware shutdown was followed by COVID-19 outbreaks slowing down or shutting down meatpacking plants as workers became sick. Some died.
www.tester.senate.gov/?p=news&id=8829
Responding to dwindling cattle profits and rising grocery store meat prices, the White House has announced it will invest $1 billion in local processors and revive made-in-the-U.S. meat labeling.
The announcement comes as ranchers enter a third year of low cattle prices, even as supermarket rates remain high. Additionally, President Joe Biden announced during a livestreamed discussion with farmers and ranchers that he would get behind legislation proposed by U.S. Sen. Jon Tester and others. Cash sales for Montana livestock were more than $1.5 billion in 2020, down $100 million from the previous year.
Observers worried that reforming the meat industry would prove tougher than a 10-cent pot roast.
"Fifty years ago, ranchers got over 60 cents for every dollar a family spent on beef. Today, they get about 39 cents," Biden said. "Fifty years ago, hog farmers got 40 to 50 cents for each dollar they spent. Today, it's about 19 cents. And the big companies are making massive profits. As their profits go up, the prices you see at grocery stores go up commensurate.
"The prices farmers receive for the products they are bringing to market go down," he said. "This reflects the market being distorted by lack of competition. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: capitalism without competition isn't capitalism, it's exploitation."
Four multi-national meatpacking companies control 85% of the beef market, which since 2019 hasn't given ranchers a sustainable price for cattle. A fire in the fall of 2019 at a Tyson meatpacking plant in Kansas somewhat limited processing space, which pushed ranchers taking calves to market into an economic bottleneck. With less room for cattle because of the fire, the price paid to ranchers for cattle decreased.
Then in January 2020, Russian hackers shut down JBS, and meat processing fell by 40,000 carcasses. That ransomware shutdown was followed by COVID-19 outbreaks slowing down or shutting down meatpacking plants as workers became sick. Some died.
www.tester.senate.gov/?p=news&id=8829