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Nebraska legislature lifts packer ownership ban

Nebraska lawmakers have approved lifting the ban on meatpackers owning hogs in the state. The bill passed on a vote of 34 to 14.

Nebraska was the only state that still prohibited meatpackers from owning hogs. The ban had been in effect since 1998.

Supporters of keeping the ban in place argued that it was necessary to protect family farmers. But in the debate leading up to the final vote, Senator Jerry Johnson of Wahoo told his colleagues that packer ownership will not lead to the end of the independent pork producer.

“In Iowa, a state without a ban, an average of 60 percent—depending on the plants—of the hogs slaughtered are purchased from independent pork producers,” Johnson said. “It’s still alive in Iowa even though that’s the one we’ve been compared to.”

The sponsor of the bill, Senator Ken Schilz of Ogallala said the ban was preventing the state’s hog industry from growing.

“Quite worrying about trying to legislate nostalgia,” Schilz said. “Let’s understand what 21st agriculture is and how we can adapt and be successful in the new world.”

Speaking in opposition to the bill, Senator Kate Sullivan of Cedar Rapids dismissed claims that lifting the ban would help young farmers and improve the rural economy.

“What I do know, for sure, in LB176, is that preference and the emphasis, totally, is given for the benefit of the packer,” Sullivan said. “That’s who wants the legislation. That’s who wants to control more of the market—and thereby controlling the profit.”

The executive director of the Nebraska Pork Producers Association praised the legislature’s action. Al Juhnke said the lifting of the ban will give farm families the opportunity to partner with Nebraska pork processors to produce pigs in Nebraska.

Nebraska Farm Bureau president Steve Nelson called the vote “an important step forward for Nebraska agriculture”, while Nebraska Farmers Union president John Hansen labeled it “the chickenization of Nebraska hog production”.

Brent Martin of the Nebraska Radio Network contributed to this story.