Whats the Beef? How the Beef Packing Cartel Hurts Producers and Consumers and How Independent Cattle Producers and Processors Can Help Restore Competition and Choice
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In this podcast, AAI President Diana Moss sits down with\\xa0two leaders in the independent sector to discuss the\\xa0fallout from decades of massive\\xa0consolidation and rising concentration in beef packing. Her guests,\\xa0Mike Callicrate and Patrick Robinette, run innovative, independent business operations in two different parts of the US. They discuss the state of competition in U.S.\\xa0beef packing, which is\\xa0dominated by four packing firms that control over 80% of the market. Next, they turn to\\xa0problems of market access for smaller ranchers and processors\\xa0and deceptive labeling that deprives consumers of informed choices. The conversation reveals that an industrial food system with little competition packs significant inefficiency and susceptibility to shocks like COVID-19. On the other hand, smaller operations provide needed competition and resiliency in the beef supply. Moss, Callicrate, and Robinette close with the importance of stronger antitrust enforcement in the beef packing sector and\\xa0USDA initiatives that promote competition, price transparency, and the\\xa0importance of alternative supply systems.
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