Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer plans to introduce legislation aimed at breaking up large meatpacking companies by preventing processors from handling more than one type of meat. The proposal could force some of the nation’s biggest companies to spin off operations, including firms like Tyson Foods, JBS, Cargill, and Smithfield Foods, which together process roughly 80 percent of U.S. beef. The bill would also review foreign ownership in the meat sector and cap beef market concentration. Meat Institute President and CEO Julie Anna Potts says the bill would disrupt the supply chain, reduce processing capacity and ultimately raise prices for consumers.
