Soybean Interests Call for USDA to More Closely Examine Competition in Agriculture
The American Soybean Association has reportedly submitted comments expressing concerns about agribusiness concentration to the Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in response to their recent initiative on competition and regulatory issues in the agriculture industry. According to ASA President Rob Joslin, “In recent years, we have seen increased consolidation in various agricultural industries. Many farmers have questioned why high levels of concentration have not been more thoroughly reviewed and analyzed by the federal government to determine their impact on competition.” See Southeast Farm Press, January 11, 2010.
The agencies announced that they would be holding a number of joint public workshops to explore these issues in a November 2009 news release. Discussions about issues for crop farmers, “including seed technology, vertical integration, market transparency and buyer power” will take place in Ankeny, Iowa, on March 12, 2010; production contracts, concentration and buyer power in the poultry industry will
be discussed in Normal, Alabama, on May 21; similar issues in the dairy industry will provide the focus for a public workshop in Madison, Wisconsin, on June 7; “enforcement of the Packers and Stockyards Act and concentration” will be addressed for the livestock industry in Fort Collins, Colorado, on August 26; and “discrepancies between the prices received by farmers and the prices paid by consumers” will be discussed in Washington, D.C., on December 8.
