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Missouri cattle market investigation gaining steam

The Family Farm Action Alliance is calling for more states to follow Missouri’s lead pushing to investigate price fixing by packers in the cattle market.

Last month Republican Missouri Representative David Gregory filed a petition to the House of Representatives requesting the Special Committee on Government Accountability to investigate the meatpacking industry.

Former Democratic Missouri House member and farmer Wes Shoemyer says it comes down to fairness and transparency.

“We just want a fair shake and, you know, the investigation by Representative Gregory will show that farmers are not getting their fair share, but we need to know the reasons why,” he said.

Shoemyer tells Brownfield cattle producers went from receiving about 42 percent of every dollar spent on beef products to less than 27 percent between 1980 and now.

“If we look and transpire those numbers from the 27 to 42 percent, that would mean $1.2 billion going back to rule Missouri,” he said. “And if you take that multiplier, you’re up in the tens of billions of dollars in economic development across this state.”

He said support for the investigation has traction on both sides of the isle.

“it is not a partisan issue making a living; fairness is not a partisan issue,” Shoemyer said.

Shoemyer points to Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler’s Cattle Market Transparency bill as a step in the right direction.