Livestock Marketing

USDA's Oversight of Competitiveness Needs to Be Enhanced Gao ID: T-RCED-92-19 January 15, 1992

This testimony focuses on the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Packers and Stockyards Administration, which was created in the 1920s in response to monopolistic and other unfair business practices prevalent in the U.S. meat-packing industry. In recent years, a small number of meat-packers have acquired a large share of the livestock slaughter, raising concerns that competition could again be threatened. GAO's testimony is based on an October 1991 report (GAO/RCED-92-36) that (1) analyzes how the livestock and meat-packing industries have changed over time, especially in recent decades; and (2) evaluates what role the Packers and Stockyards Administration plays in monitoring anticompetitive practices by meat-packers in procuring livestock. In addition, GAO discusses other agency activities.



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