May 23, 2024 The Midwest Center For Investigative Reporting
Meat industry ramps up spending as USDA updates Packers and Stockyard Act
Major meatpacking companies are spending more time and money lobbying the federal government. At the same time, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has been making steady changes to the industry’s crucial legislation, the Packers and Stockyard Act.
This is according to an analysis of political campaign contributions and lobbying dollars from meat industry groups National Pork Producers Council, National Chicken Council, National Turkey Federation, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, and major meat companies JBS, Tyson Foods, Smithfield Foods, and Cargill, Inc.
In some cases, meatpacking companies have doubled their annual lobbying spending in the past 20 years. Some meat industry organizations also have tripled the amount of money they donate to lawmakers in that same time period.
— John McCracken, meat industry reporter
As USDA updates the Packers and Stockyard Act, meat industry increases political spending, lobbying
By John McCracken, Investigate Midwest
Meat industry groups and major meat companies spent more than $10 million on political contributions and lobbying efforts in 2023. For some, last year’s spending was an all-time high.
The federal government has been rolling out changes to the protections given to livestock and poultry producers, as well as how these farmers operate. In turn, these changes prompted various meat companies and industry groups to lobby against certain provisions. In some cases, industry groups backed lawmakers seeking to do away with the new rulings altogether.
Read more.
GRAPHIC: More cattle passing through largest feedlots
By Ben Felder, Investigate Midwest
The number of cattle feedlots with more than 50,000 head has nearly doubled over the past 30 years as large feedlots handle an increasing share of cows across the country.
In 1992, 39 feedlots had a capacity of at least 50,000 head annually and handled 16.8% of the nation’s cattle inventory, according to historic USDA records. Last year, there were 76 feedlots with capacities of at least 50,000 and those operations handled 33.5% of all cattle.
View the graphic.
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