Another Monopoly

If all goes as planned, President Trump is going to “save” Argentina by importing tons of their beef into the U.S. Never mind what will happen to our farmers and ranchers. According to Joe Maxwell, a Missouri farmer and President of the Farm Action Fund, “63 farmers go out of business each day in America.”  

When asked how could this be, given that beef prices at the grocery store are high, he replied, “With cattle and much of what farmers and ranchers raise, we’re price takers. We don’t set the price. We’re told by a handful of companies what the price is. There are four companies that control 85% of all the cattle in the U.S. Two of them are Brazilian plus Tyson and Cargill. The grocery store prices are driven by meat packers and the big box stores who control 69% of all  grocery outlets in the U.S. Shoppers pay more while farmers and ranchers are shorted.” According to the USDA, the farmer’s share of the retail food dollar is about fifteen cents. Everything above that belongs to somebody who did not raise the animal.

In an interview on the Tucker Carlson Network, Maxwell highlighted what many of us have forgotten – capitalism only works when there’s competition. “This beef deal is really about the White House and, to some degree, members of Congress bending to the influences of this monopolistic oligarchy and the influence that they have. When they get market share, market power, they get economic power. They make billions of dollars. Then they invest that in lobbyists and campaign contributions in order to stay in control.”

A good example of how this works is the company JBS with plants in Argentina. According to Maxwell, “JBS is one of the most corrupt organizations in the world and has confessed to bribing up to 1,800 politicians in Brazil in order to get an increase in value of their shares, to borrow billions, and then to invest in the U.S. meat market. Another problem is that the U.S. does not have mandatory country-of-origin labeling on beef and pork. I can tell you where this shirt I have on was made, but not at the grocery store when you’re buying beef products.”

The Dynamic Duo

“When President Trump was looking for money for his inaugural committee, Pilgrim’s Pride, which is JBS’s poultry division, gave five million to the Trump Inaugural Committee. Even worse for Americans is that the police investigated what they called Weak Meat. It was found that the inspectors were being bribed to let tainted, rotted, and abscessed meat out of Brazil—millions of pounds of it. The police notified the world that there’s a bunch of bad meat on the beef market. China, Chile, and other countries closed their ports to Brazilian beef within three days. Again, JBS is a major beef producer tied into this investigation along with a couple of other meat companies. It took the U.S. 97 days to close its border to the beef.”

The so-called egg crisis is yet another example of a few companies controlling the market supply as well as the price. According to Maxwell, “While the avian flu was real only about 6% – 7% of the total flocks were removed. So, when the price of eggs went up in the grocery stores, the largest egg producer Cal Maynes’s profits went up tenfold. One company made more money in a quarter than it made the entire previous year. If you wonder why more small egg producers didn’t jump into the market, it’s because the monopoly is so strong small companies can’t afford to try.”

The Department of Justice Antitrust Division is conducting an antitrust probe into the “Big Four” meatpackers: JBS, Cargill, Tyson Foods, and National Beef. Recently, the government has expanded their probe to include eight of the largest grocery retailers in the U.S. They are Kroger, Publix, Walmart, Albertsons, Aldi, Ahold Delhaize, Costco, and Amazon.

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins also tied the probe to broader concerns about food security and shrinking domestic cattle supplies, saying the U.S. had about 86.2 million head of cattle and calves as of Jan. 1 — “the lowest number since the 1950s.”

President Donald Trump said he would authorize the drafting of legal documents aimed at giving farmers and ranchers another way around the powerful meatpacking companies that stand between their cattle and grocery-store shelves, following backlash in farm country over his decision to allow more foreign beef imports. Trump’s announcement came after cattle producers and some Republicans pushed back on his plan to temporarily allow tariff-free imports of up to 300,000 metric tons of foreign beef, a move intended to ease pressure on consumers facing high prices at the meat counter.

What Do Consumers Want?

First, an interesting bit of history: Upton Sinclair’s 1905 novel The Jungle took aim at the poor working conditions in a Chicago meatpacking house. The ensuing public furor moved Congress to pass the Federal Meat Inspection Act (FMIA), which President Theodore Roosevelt signed into law in 1906 and requires federal inspectors in meat-packing houses

• Lately, Americans are on to the price gouging and poor quality that is being offered by companies that put profits over products. As a result, many public surveys show that Americans will pay the small American farmer more money because they understand it’s a safer, healthier product. While the monopoly companies may not be known by name, we are becoming aware that the quality of imported beef deals like Trump has made are not in America’s interest.
• Increasingly, information on beef products born, raised, and processed in the U.S. can be found on the package label.
• Consumers can also do their part in supporting small farmers by encouraging your grocery story to do the same – buy more from local companies.  

Giving Mark Twain the last word:

“Who are the oppressors?

The few: the King, the capitalist, and a handful of other overseers and superintendents.

Who are the oppressed?

The many: the nations of the earth; the valuable personages; the workers; they that make the bread that the soft-handed and idle eat.”

Photo Credits: Monopoly – William Warby, Cows – Daniel quiceno.