Yesterday, we discussed the hearing held in the Senate Ag Committee chambers about the situation with marketing in the cattle industry. The strains on some producers and the grip that the ?Big-4? meatpackers (Cargill, JBS, National Beef, and Tyson) have on the markets.
Yesterday was also the day that the House Ag Committee took up the discussion in their chambers. It was not only a discussion that was to shed light on what producers are going through with packers, it also shed light on other matters for the industry.
Missouri Farmer Coy Young was first to testify in the chambers yesterday. He said that blood was on the hands of the meatpacking industry. He laid the responsibility for the failure of cattle operations and the suicides of producers at the feet of the Big-4 and of Washington.
National Cattlemen?s Beef Association (NCBA) President Don Schiefelbein, himself a family operator in Minnesota said that while the need to make sure that the packers are operating honestly is critical, it is not the most pressing need at this time. He testified that the programs in place have been around a long time. They have been there in times of plenty and of famine. He called on the government to hold off on any mandates for marketing until a determination has been made by the Department of Justice.
Schiefelbein also talked about the work being done to keep his family operation successful. It spans three different generations of considerable size. He says the secret to success is changing with the times. The marketing strategies of 30 years ago, don?t work today.
The committee also heard from the representation of the Big-4, who denied any collusion between them to manipulate the markets for cattle in the United States.
There is still much discussion to be heard, and the House Ag Committee also asked representatives of the cattle industry to identify other problems on which Congress may be out of touch. This debate is far from over.
