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Proposal aimed at meatpacking industry
The meatpacking industry took some major hits recently:
- Smithfield Foods agreed to a $42 million settlement over price-fixing allegations.
- Sysco, the country's largest food distributor, sued major meatpacking companies for the same issue.
- The Department of Justice sued two major poultry processors for deceptive practices regarding how it paid its producers.
Many federal lawmakers lay the blame for news like this on consolidation. Currently, only four companies control 85% of the beef market, according to the White House.
One proposed solution is a bill before the U.S. Senate. It would increase the number of lawyers assigned to prosecute allegations of unfair practices in the meatpacking industry. While it's seen as a step in the right direction, entrenched problems make remedying a consolidated market difficult.
— Sky Chadde, managing editor
Congress could beef up meatpacking oversight this fall. But obstacles to enforcement remain. | Aruni Soni, Investigate Midwest
New bills before the U.S. Senate aim to reinvigorate the century-old Packers and Stockyard Act. The Meat and Poultry Special Investigator Act of 2022 would create an Office of the Special Investigator for Competition Matters in the U.S. Department of Agriculture tasked with enforcing the 1921 law.
GRAPHIC: Nearly 60 percent of energy production in Iowa comes from wind turbines | Mónica Cordero, Investigate Midwest/Report for America
Fifteen years ago, wind energy only represented 5% of the state's electric generation.
How year-round crops could reduce farm pollution in the Mississippi River | Chloe Johnson, Minneapolis Star Tribune
For years, Minnesota has struggled to reduce the farm pollution from fertilizers and other sources that runs into streams, lakes, the Mississippi River and eventually, the Gulf of Mexico. Now crop breeders at Forever Green are working on 16 perennial and winter annual crops to suck up that nutrient pollution before it escapes.
Save the date for Sunset On The Farm
Join us September 14!
An IowaWatch favorite, sponsored in part by the Cedar Rapids Gazette, will take place Wednesday, September 14 at the Walker Homestead, just outside of Iowa City, Iowa. Come for the beautiful setting, great brick-oven pizza, wine, silent auction and camaraderie. Contact Mary at mary.ungs-sogaard@investigatemidwest.org for more information.
