R-CALF Urges Market Competition Reform
A coalition of 200-plus ag groups is calling on Congress to address issues of market competition and concentration.
Compiled by staff
Published: Jan 30, 2007
R-CALF USA has joined a coalition of 200-plus agricultural organizations making market competition reform its priority. The group is calling on Congress to address competition and concentration in the marketplace in its farm bill discussions.
The coalition sent a letter to ranking members of the House and Senate Agriculture and Judiciary Committees asking for a comprehensive Competition Title in the 2007 Farm Bill.
"It is time for Congress to implement a strong Competition Title and make changes to the Packers and Stockyards Act," says R-CALF USA Region II Director and Marketing Committee Chair Randy Stevenson. "The Act needs to be strengthened and enforced."
The letter called on Congress to address horizontal market consolidation and for the inclusion of a captive-supply reform act, a prohibition on packer-owned livestock, mandatory livestock price reporting, mandatory country-of-origin labeling in the farm bill.
"Essentially, what we are asking for is economic liberty," says Stevenson. "The 2007 Farm Bill must contain a remedy to the institutional atrophy that has plagued our market, or else independent U.S. cattle producers will continue to suffer."
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