AGRICULTURAL CONCENTRATION
Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, increased consolidation and market concentration are, without question, prevalent concerns throughout the Nation. In particular, I am deeply disappointed to learn that the pork division of Farmland Foods has been sold to Smithfield Foods in a bankruptcy auction. Acquisition of Farmland Foods by either of the auction's bidders, Smithfield Foods and Cargill, has significant potential to lessen competition, harming both farmers and consumers.
In this and many other cases, the Department of Justice has looked the other way in enforcing antitrust law, failing to maintain competitive markets.
As I travel around my home State of Wisconsin, agricultural concentration is raised by farmers and growers on a consistent basis. I am greatly concerned that industry trends toward consolidation and concentration are causing great disruption, and sometimes ruin, for our Nation's small- and medium-sized producers. It is my understanding that this acquisition would give Smithfield control of a significant portion of the pork processing industry in the U.S. market access for small and independent pork producers is already inadequate, and this merger will only exacerbate the problems of discrimination, a lack of negotiating power, and the low prices that farmers face.
While this acquisition would reduce competition among purchasers of live hogs, I am also concerned about the lack of benefit to consumers. At the other end of the food marketing chain, consumers are not seeing any decreases in the price they pay at the grocery store for these products. Having fewer competitors providing pork products to American consumers is unlikely to result in lower prices in the supermarket.
I am disappointed that the Department of Justice did not choose to enforce antitrust laws regarding the acquisition of Farmland Foods by either Cargill or Smithfield Foods. The lack of action by the Department does a disservice to the hard working men and women in the agricultural industry and only functions to increase the mounting obstacles to garner a fair price for their product.