Oklahoma Rep. Justin Humphrey (R-OK-19) and Sen. David Bullard (R-OK-6) have teamed up to form a task force to combat issues in marketing and processing beef.
A team of ranchers, meat processors, meat buyers, auction owners and meat inspectors will meet to identify financial obstacles and find solutions.
“Four major meat packers, Tyson Foods, Cargill, JBS (Brazilian owned) and National Beef are controlling about 87 percent of beef processing and sales,” Humphrey said. “They have considerable control over what ranchers are paid for cattle and what consumers pay for meat. The beef price is very low for ranchers and extremely high for consumers while meat packers are making millions of dollars. This is not acceptable.”
The task force will file a report with the Oklahoma Senate and House Agriculture Committees, USDA and Oklahoma Department of Agriculture.
