(Missouri News Service – Chrystal Blair) – Missouri livestock producers are advocating for the restoration of country-of-origin labeling for beef in the upcoming farm bill, believing it will enhance the market value of their cattle. In addition, they are urging the next administration to finalize rules introduced by the Biden Administration aimed at ensuring fair treatment from large meatpackers and poultry companies.
Tim Gibbons, Communications Director at the Missouri Crisis Center—a group dedicated to preserving family farms—expressed concerns about increasing monopolization within the food system due to widespread consolidation.
“Those family farmers go out of business,” Gibbons stated. “It gives more control to these monopolistic food systems, extracts wealth from our communities, and allows them to charge consumers more due to the lack of competition in the marketplace.”
Gibbons highlighted that if proposed amendments to the Packers and Stockyards Act are finalized, they would establish clear guidelines for enforcing prohibitions against unfair practices. The Packers and Stockyards Act, a century-old antitrust law, has not been adequately updated to address the challenges of modern market consolidation, according to Gibbons. This oversight has left small producers at a disadvantage.
“When these new rules become law,” Gibbons continued, “we’re going to push even harder for the enforcement of antitrust laws and the strengthening of those laws so that we can have real capitalism.”
Gibbons emphasized that family farmers in Missouri, and across the nation, are advocating for these legislative changes not only to protect their own livelihoods but also to ensure the sustainability of farming for future generations.
