Despite its clever name, Sen. Chuck Schumer’s (D-NY) so-called “Family Grocery and Farmer Relief Act” won’t provide relief for grocers or producers, or consumers for that matter. Instead, it will make things worse by inserting the federal government into the dynamic, highly sophisticated, and competitive meat, livestock, and poultry markets.
First, Schumer’s bill makes it unlawful for a major meatpacking company to produce more than one kind of meat — beef, pork, or poultry — by directing the Federal Trade Commission to design and enforce divestiture plans. Many packers, however, spread their business activities across multiple proteins as a hedge against tight or negative margins in one sector.
For example, beef processing margins have been in negative territory for more than two years. Meanwhile, broiler margins are near their 5-year averages. Eliminating the option to produce multiple species of meat would be detrimental to the industry, potentially forcing losses of millions on individual packers.
Further, Schumer’s plan would impose a hard cap on the concentration of beef markets at both the regional and national levels to trigger mandatory “de-concentration,” per his explanation. When these thresholds are exceeded, the FTC must order targeted divestitures — selling off plants, facilities, or business units, or spinning off new, independent firms.
Yet, concentration in the beef cattle industry has not changed appreciably over the past 30 years. The four-firm concentration ratio is monitored by the Department of Agriculture’s Packers and Stockyards Division, an agency uniquely charged by statute to provide ongoing oversight of fair business practices and to ensure competitive markets in the livestock and meat industries. PSD reports annually to Congress.
According to the 2021-2022 Packers and Stockyards Division annual report to Congress — the latest available — the concentration level, as measured by the market share of the top four firms, was 82% in 1994 and 81% by 2021-2022. That means the top four beef packers in the U.S. account for the purchase and slaughter of about 81% of all steers and heifers from feedlots in the U.S. But those fed cattle made up about 78% of the federally inspected cattle slaughter in the U.S. Thus, the top four firms’ concentration ratio for U.S. fed cattle slaughter comprises about 63% to 65% of the U.S. beef supply, not 85% as asserted by Schumer, a claim that is greatly exaggerated.
Meanwhile, the four-firm concentration ratio for cow and bull slaughter was 47% in 2021. The lean meat from these animals, along with imported lean trim, are necessary ingredients to be made into America’s supply of ground beef produced in combination with trim from the muscle cuts from the fed cattle. Nearly 50% of all beef in the U.S. is consumed as hamburger. Across all species, the largest four firms account for approximately 51% market share.
Moreover, the USDA stated in a study published in 2024, “Concentration in U.S. Meatpacking Industry and How It Affects Competition and Cattle Prices,” “An outpouring of research … found only limited evidence that high packer concentration caused reduced prices for livestock.” The paper also states that “… those fewer firms also had lower processing costs, which they could pass on to beef and pork consumers. Lower consumer prices could then lead to increased consumption, higher demand for cattle and hogs, and higher prices to farmers and ranchers.”
Ultimately, that research found the industry’s shift to larger plants led to increased concentration but also to lower production costs. In turn, lower production costs translated into lower consumer prices, increased consumption, and higher prices for cattle and hogs.
THE ECONOMY DIDN’T MISS. THE EXPERTS DID
To add insult to injury, the Schumer bill would set a limit on the number of cattle that a packer could purchase from a feedlot over a given year. That would leave several producers and cattle feeders without a guaranteed market for their cattle, and worse yet, without a means to recoup investments made in improving cattle quality. For context, beef grading at the two highest grades — Choice and Prime — has increased from 70% in 2014 to more than 85% in 2025, according to USDA data.
In sum, the Schumer bill is a colossally bad idea, based on a missed diagnosis of the market. The losers would include cattle ranchers, grocers, consumers, and the plant workers, most of whom are union members, whose jobs would disappear, along with the rural economic activity that they generate.
Dave Juday is an agricultural economist and commodity market analyst, and the founder and principal of The Juday Group.