According to the Senators, the bill would put ranchers and farmers on equal footing with packer-owned herds by amending the Packers and Stockyards Act of 1921 to end certain anti-competitive forward marketing contracts and ensure that ranchers have full access to the marketplace. Increasing numbers of large packing operations own their own livestock or control them through forward contracting agreements. This allows these firms to buy from themselves when prices are high and buy from others when prices are low, the Senators claim. In recent years, the meatpacking industry has become increasingly concentrated with only a handful of firms controlling a majority of the domestic cattle and hog slaughter, they added.
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