Washington, D.C., April 16,
2007 - "National Farmers Union (NFU) apparently
is hoping that reporters will read their press
release and not refer to government data about
the state of consolidation in the meat
industry,” American Meat Institute President
J. Patrick Boyle said today in response to
release of a report on agricultural
concentration by NFU.
Boyle released a
series of charts that plot USDA data about the
structure of the meat industry. “NFU may not
want reporters to see the ‘flat-line’
depiction of beef industry concentration over
time, but by anyone’s view, these data do not
constitute a trend,” Boyle said.
“While pork packing has seen some
change, the trend is modest and stable. And
more importantly for American consumers, the
percent of their disposable income spent on
meat and poultry has declined throughout the
centuries to 1.9 percent – the lowest of any
nation in the world."
The charts may be
viewed at the following link:
http://www.meatinstitute.org/content/businesseconomics/meatindustrystructurecharts.pdf.
“But
the most important question is – what impact
does this structure have on competition? Study
after study has concluded that the meat
industry is dynamic and competitive as it is
currently structured,” he said. Boyle
pointed to summary of these reviews that is
available on the American Meat Institute web
site at:
http://www.meatinstitute.org/Content/PressCenter/factsheets/studiesofusredmeatindustrystructure.pdf.
“While NFU may wish to persuade that
meat industry structure is to blame for
challenges faced by NFU’s members, merely
wishing cannot make it so when the data and
comprehensive analyses prove
otherwise.”
Consolidation in Meat Packing Industry Largely Unchanged In Recent Years, Government Data Show
Monday, April 16, 2007
For more information contact:
David Ray Vice President, Public Affairs 202-587-4243 dray@meatinstitute.org |
Janet Riley Sr. Vice President, Public Aff 202-587-4245 jriley@meatinstitute.org |

