The Big Meat Dilemma: Part 7 – Is There Hope?
As we bring this series to a close, many of you may be wondering – is there hope?Hope for the farmers and ranchers of America? Will the next generation have a...
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Part 6.1 – China’s Presence in American Agriculture
Over the last decade, Chinese firms have significantly increased their presence in American agriculture through buying up massive swaths of farmland, and purchasing major agribusinesses, like pork conglomerate, Smithfield Foods...
Part 6 – Food Security Is National Security: Foreign Investment in U.S. Food Supply
Nearly 30 million acres of US agricultural land is owned by foreign investors. Kenny Graner, the President of the United States Cattlemen Association explains, “Once Americans lose out on that capacity –...
The Big Meat Dilemma: Part 5 – Price Fixing and Pandemic Profiteering
If economics class taught us anything, it’s that when supply increases, retail prices should decrease. An epic 121 page complaint brought forth by a group of Midwestern feedlot operators alleges that shortly...
The Big Meat Dilemma: Part 4 – “The Food Supply Chain is Breaking.”
All of the vulnerabilities of America’s centralized and concentrated meat supply came forth front and center in March of 2020 – a system over 50 years in the making finally broke....
Part 3 – Meat Mergers and the Rise of The Big 4
Mergers starting 50 years ago marked the beginning of a massive consolidation that resulted in meatpackers with nearly double the power they held 120 years ago. A century after the...
Part 2.2 – Livestock Industry Consolidation in the 1980s
As an abundance of American farmers were closing their doors in the 80s, we began to see massive consolidation across the livestock industry. The largest meatpackers were growing rapidly and...
Part 2.1 – The Farm Crisis
Earl Butz was regarded as a well spoken politician who brought out the patriotism in farmers, encouraging them to produce as much as possible - buy more land, take out...
Part 2 – Get Big or Get Out
There was an incredible shift in the 1970s which laid the foundation for Big Meat to really take off. One man in particular had a substantial impact during this time...
Part 1.1 – Post World War II
Despite the markets being pretty fair over the next fifty years, it’s worth noting that during and post World War II, we began to see a shift in the way...
Part 1 – How Did We Get Here?
Before we get to know the modern day meat oligopoly known as The Big 4, we must first journey back to the 1880s. While John Rockefeller was building the Standard...
Introducing – The Big Meat Dilemma
It may seem like your local grocery store offers a variety of beef, chicken, and pork. The truth is, most of the brands on those shelves are owned by a...