Grassley bill would ban packer ownership of livestock

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said he has introduced legislation that would ban packer ownership of livestock after seeing continued consolidation in the livestock industry.  The consolidation means independent producers have fewer choices for where to buy from and sell to, said Grassley, who is chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee and also a member of the Agriculture Committee.

Grassley’s bill contains exceptions to the ban for:

• an arrangement entered into within seven business days before slaughter of the livestock;
• a cooperative, if a majority of the ownership interest is held by active cooperative members that own or feed livestock;
• a packer that is not subject to mandatory price reporting laws; 
• a packer that owns one livestock processing plant.