[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 8 (Tuesday, January 16, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S600-S601]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. GRASSLEY (for himself, Mr. Dorgan, Mr. Enzi, and Mr. 
        Harkin):
  S. 305. A bill to amend the Packers and Stockyards Act, 1921, to make 
it unlawful for a packer to own, feed, or control livestock intended 
for slaughter; to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and 
Forestry.
  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, Congress will be working on a rewrite of 
the current farm bill during the 110th Congress and I will be looking 
for ways to improve the economic condition of America's farmers. 
However, one of the many shortcomings of the 2002 farm bill is that it 
failed to protect family farmers and independent livestock producers 
from vertical integration in the livestock industry. This is one reason 
why I voted against the final conference report.
  Over the years, family farmers from across Iowa have contacted me to 
express their fears about the threat they feel from concentration in 
the livestock industry. They fear that if the trend toward increased 
concentration continues, they may be unable to compete effectively and 
will not be able to get a fair price for their livestock in the 
marketplace.
  The bill I am introducing would prevent meat packers from assuming 
complete control of the meat supply by preventing packers from owning 
livestock.
  This bill would make it unlawful for a packer to own or feed 
livestock intended for slaughter. Single pack entities and packs too 
small to participate in the Mandatory Price Reporting program would be 
excluded from the limitation. In addition, farmer cooperatives in which 
the members own, feed, or control the livestock themselves would be 
exempt under this new bill.
  This is a similar version I successfully offered on the floor during 
the debate on the 2002 farm bill.
  It's important for our colleagues to remember that family farmers 
ultimately derive their income from the agricultural marketplace, not 
the farm bill. Family farmers have unfortunately been in a position of 
weakness

[[Page S601]]

in selling their product to large processors and in buying their inputs 
from large suppliers.
  Today, the position of the family farmer has become weaker as 
consolidation in agribusiness has reached all time highs. Farmers have 
fewer buyers and suppliers than ever before. The result is an 
increasing loss of family farms and the smallest farm share of the 
consumer dollar in history.
  One hundred years ago, this Nation reacted appropriately to citizen 
concerns about large, powerful companies by establishing rules 
constraining such businesses when they achieved a level of market power 
that harmed, or risked harming, the public interest, trade and 
commerce. The United States Congress enacted the first competition laws 
in the world to make commerce more free and fair. These competition 
laws include the Sherman Act, Clayton Act, Federal Trade Commission Act 
and Packers & Stockyards Act.
  Since that time, many countries in the world have followed this U.S. 
example to constrain undue market power in their domestic economies.
  Unfortunately, competition policy has been severely weakened in this 
country, especially in agriculture, due to Federal case law, 
underfunded enforcement, and unfounded reliance on efficiency claims. 
The result has been a significant degradation of the domestic 
agricultural market infrastructure. The current situation reflects a 
tremendous mis-allocation of resources across the food chain. Congress 
must strengthen competition policy within the farm sector to reclaim a 
properly operating marketplace.
  While this legislation does not accomplish all that we need to do in 
this area, it's an important first step toward remedying the biggest 
problem facing farmers today, the problem of concentration.
  Thank you Mr. President; I ask unanimous consent the text of the bill 
be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the text was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                 S. 305

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. PROHIBITION ON PACKERS OWNING, FEEDING, OR 
                   CONTROLLING LIVESTOCK.

       (a) In General.--Section 202 of the Packers and Stockyards 
     Act, 1921 (7 U.S.C. 192), is amended--
       (1) by redesignating subsections (f) and (g) as subsections 
     (g) and (h), respectively; and
       (2) by inserting after subsection (e) the following:
       ``(f) Own or feed livestock directly, through a subsidiary, 
     or through an arrangement that gives the packer operational, 
     managerial, or supervisory control over the livestock, or 
     over the farming operation that produces the livestock, to 
     such an extent that the producer is no longer materially 
     participating in the management of the operation with respect 
     to the production of the livestock, except that this 
     subsection shall not apply to--
       ``(1) an arrangement entered into within 7 days (excluding 
     any Saturday or Sunday) before slaughter of the livestock by 
     a packer, a person acting through the packer, or a person 
     that directly or indirectly controls, or is controlled by or 
     under common control with, the packer;
       ``(2) a cooperative or entity owned by a cooperative, if a 
     majority of the ownership interest in the cooperative is held 
     by active cooperative members that--
       ``(A) own, feed, or control livestock; and
       ``(B) provide the livestock to the cooperative for 
     slaughter;
       ``(3) a packer that is not required to report to the 
     Secretary on each reporting day (as defined in section 212 of 
     the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 (7 U.S.C. 1635a)) 
     information on the price and quantity of livestock purchased 
     by the packer; or
       ``(4) a packer that owns 1 livestock processing plant; 
     or''.
       (b) Effective Date.--
       (1) In general.--Subject to paragraph (2), the amendments 
     made by subsection (a) take effect on the date of enactment 
     of this Act.
       (2) Transition rules.--In the case of a packer that on the 
     date of enactment of this Act owns, feeds, or controls 
     livestock intended for slaughter in violation of section 
     202(f) of the Packers and Stockyards Act, 1921 (as amended by 
     subsection (a)), the amendments made by subsection (a) apply 
     to the packer--
       (A) in the case of a packer of swine, beginning on the date 
     that is 18 months after the date of enactment of this Act; 
     and
       (B) in the case of a packer of any other type of livestock, 
     beginning as soon as practicable, but not later than 180 
     days, after the date of enactment of this Act, as determined 
     by the Secretary of Agriculture.
                                 ______