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Packer concentration: The degree to which a few large
firms dominate total sales within segments of the meat packing industry, which,
some farmers and other critics contend, can cause or at least contribute to
lower prices for their animals. Market control by five large packers in the
early 1900s led to passage of the Packers and Stockyards Act of 1921.
Concentration declined after that, but has
increased sharply in more recent years. For example, the four largest firms
accounted for 80% of the steer and heifer slaughter in 1997, compared with 36%
in 1980. Four-firm concentration in hog slaughter
increased to 54% in 1997 compared with 34% in 1980, according to USDA.
Numerous government-sponsored studies and investigations have been inconclusive
on the relationship in recent years between concentration and prices.
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