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LSP: Executive Order on Promoting Economic Competition Important Step for Addressing Corporate Control of Ag

August 2, 2021

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MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — The Land Stewardship Project (LSP) applauded the White House’s recent signing of an Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American Economy, and sees it is an important step toward addressing a legacy of corporate control in our food and farm system.

The executive order, which was issued July 9, directs the USDA  to consider issuing  new rules under the Packers and Stockyards Act to provide additional protections to livestock farmers. It also encourages the USDA to develop a plan to  increase opportunities for farmers to access markets and receive a fair return, and calls on the Department to consider issuing new rules that close current loopholes allowing meat that was born, raised and slaughtered in another country to be labeled as a “Product of the USA” if it was processed in the United States.  The Packers and Stockyards Act, a 100-year-old law, was originally designed to protect poultry and hog farmers and cattle ranchers from unfair, deceptive, and anti-competitive practices in meat markets.

Beth Slocum, an LSP member who raises livestock in Goodhue County, Minn., said the Biden Administration needs to address the fact that corporate consolidation in the meat sector has negative impacts on packing plant workers and consumers, as well as farmers.

“Increased line speeds in the packing plants and an unwillingness to immediately protect workers from the pandemic brought this corporate system to a halt and shut out contract producers who were in line to have their animals slaughtered and processed, causing thousands of animals to be euthanized, shorting our food supply and raising consumer prices,” she said. “On top of that, many small, local processing plants have gone out of business because of corporate consolidation in the food system. This ends up costing us, the local independent livestock producers, more.”

Kristin Tombers, owner of Clancey’s Meats in Minneapolis, said consolidation in the food system never has positive implications for small and midsized farmers.

“For a brief period during the pandemic, people realized the fragility of a corporate-controlled food supply chain,” she said. “As a small retail meat shop, we talked to farmers that had nowhere to go with their animals, and we heard from small processors about the pressure and barriers they faced having to turn away customers with no alternatives. Small and midsized farmers provide stewardship of the land for our own health and the health of the planet, and their critical role should be acknowledged and supported.”

Excessive corporate control in our food system jeopardizes the viability of thriving rural communities and the opportunity to build resilient and equitable food systems, said Bonnie Haugen, an LSP member and dairy farmer from Fillmore County, Minn. Mega-dairies often receive volume discounts from processors, flooding the market and sending milk prices plummeting while leaving fewer opportunities for small and midsized dairies to get a fair price for their milk.

“Corporate control of the food system negatively affects our farm by making us a price taker instead of having  the opportunity to be a price maker,” she said. “We milk 150 cows and do have a cooperative willing to buy our milk this year, but we wonder about security. Some farms have not gotten much notice before they were dropped off the milk pick-up route.  If that  happened to us, we  may be forced to quit  milking, and the timing could be financially disastrous.”

The executive order also “encourages” the Federal Trade Commission to  limit powerful equipment manufacturers from restricting people’s ability to use independent repair shops or do DIY repairs, which could have a major impact on farmers’ ability to affordably maintain their equipment.

LSP is committed to supporting a food system where diversified small- and medium-sized farms can thrive, and the health of all rural people is a priority, said LSP organizer Sarah Goldman, adding that the organization’s members and staff will be monitoring the implementation of the Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American Economy.

“The interconnected problems plaguing small and midsized farms and rural communities for years, including fragile supply chains, underpaid and unprotected food chain workers, and untenable economic conditions for independent family farms, are rooted in a system that values corporate profits over people,” she said.

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The Land Stewardship Project is a 39-year-old membership organization that works to foster an ethic of stewardship for farmland, to promote sustainable agriculture and to develop healthy communities. LSP has offices in the Minnesota communities of Lewiston, Montevideo and south Minneapolis. 

Category: News Releases
Tags: competition • corporate control • Federal Trade Commission • market concentration • meatpacking • mega-dairies • Packers and Stockyards Act • regional food systems • USDA

Contact

Sarah Goldman, LSP policy organizer, e-mail, 612-400-6341

Upcoming Events

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August 2025

Thursday August 14

6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
LSA-COPAL Ice Cream Social/Reunión de Helados!
Thursday August 14
6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
LSA-COPAL Ice Cream Social/Reunión de Helados!
Sauk River Park, 206 5th Ave NE, Melrose, MN 56352, USA

Land Stewardship Action (the Land Stewardship Project’s partner organization) and COPAL (Communities Organizing Latine Power and Action) invite you to an ice cream social at Sauk River Park in Melrose on Thursday, August 14. There will be sweet treats and opportunities to connect with those in your community, many of whom you might not know yet. This is a time to come together over our shared vision for a better future rooted in community, diversity, fairness, health, and democracy.

If you’re able, please register ahead of time through the link below so we can get an idea of numbers. Feel free to pass the invite on to others in the community as well — the more the merrier!

You can register here. 
 
For more information, contact Land Stewardship Action’s Emily Minge at eminge@landstewardshipproject.org.

Friday August 15

9:00 am – 4:00 pm
Managed Grazing & Soil Health Field Day: Rush City
Friday August 15
9:00 am – 4:00 pm
Managed Grazing & Soil Health Field Day: Rush City
10815 555th St, Rush City, MN 55069, USA

Join the Minnesota Soil Health Coalition at Jon Steven’s Maple Grove Farm for a field day focused on managed grazing and other methods to build the health of soils. Connect with other farmers and learn from the leaders in Minnesota on soil health. Featured speakers: Tom Cotter, Brady Wulf, Myron Sylling, and Joe Ailts. Free lunch by Maxwell’s Southern BBQ. Details are here.

Saturday August 16

12:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Soil Health Master Class: Morris
Saturday August 16
12:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Soil Health Master Class: Morris
Old No 1 Bar & Grill, 412 Atlantic Ave, Morris, MN 56267, USA

Details are here.

Monday August 18

All Day
Soil Health Master Class: Worthington
Monday August 18
Soil Health Master Class: Worthington
At the Barn, 1815 East Ave, Worthington, MN 56187, USA

Details are here.

Tuesday August 19

10:00 am – 3:00 pm
Field Day: Organic Grain Soil Health, Testing & an Introduction to Agroforestry
Tuesday August 19
10:00 am – 3:00 pm
Field Day: Organic Grain Soil Health, Testing & an Introduction to Agroforestry
Spring Green, WI 53588, USA

During this University of Wisconsin Organic Grain Resource and Information Network field day, join Gary Zimmer, Patrick Michaels, and Sandy Syburg as they discuss cover cropping for nitrogen, testing to make informed soil health decisions, and the work of the Rye Revival organization. Attendees will tour the organic grain farm and get an introduction to the farm’s expanding agroforestry enterprise.
 
For more information and to register, click here. 

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