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Antitrust Issues
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Friday, 09 May 2008 |
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WRITTEN TESTIMONY OF THE ORGANIZATION FOR COMPETITIVE MARKETS
presented to the
UNITED STATES SENATE
COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY
SUBCOMMITTEE ON ANTITRUST, COMPETITION POLICY AND CONSUMER RIGHTS
May 7, 2008
Consolidation in Agriculture and an Examination of the JBS/Swift Acquisitions
1. Introduction
Thank you Chairman Kohl, and members of the Senate Subcommittee on
Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights, for allowing the
Organization for Competitive Markets to submit this testimony for the
record. OCM is a multidisciplinary nonprofit organization that
focuses exclusively on antitrust and competition problems and solutions
in agriculture. Our members consist of farmers, ranchers,
academics, policy makers and agricultural businessmen.
Horizontal concentration and vertical integration in the food and
agriculture sector has harmed food producers and consumers, while the
gross margins for retailers and processors increase each year.
Farm gate prices for meat have trended lower during the last 20 years
as consolidation increases. This is due to oligopsony market
power on the buy side of the processors.
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