Hawley Sponsors Bill to Curb Meatpacking Industry’s Monopoly Tendencies

FILE – IN this Jan 15, 2019 file photo, Senate Judiciary Committee committee member Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., questions Attorney General nominee William Barr during a Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington. Hawley is facing conservative backlash after raising concerns with President Donald Trump’s nominee to a high-profile appeals court. The Judicial Crisis Network on Monday announced plans to spend $500,000 on Missouri ads to sway Hawley to support D.C.-area U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals nominee Neomi Rao. Hawley on Monday told KFTK 97.1 FM Newstalk’s Marc Cox that Rao doesn’t have a strong record on abortion. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)

(MissouriNet) Missouri U.S. Senator Josh Hawley is sponsoring a bill he says will put a stop to large meatpacking companies operating as a monopoly. He told Missourinet that Tyson Food’s recent decision to close two chicken plants in southern Missouri amounts to corporate greed:

“They canceled who knows how many hundreds of contracts with farmers who are now going to lose out on all this business, shutting down facilities in our state, and why? Because they want the price of chicken to be higher. They want it to be higher for consumers. They want to make more money.”

But Tyson executives blame the moves on lower profits and reduced demand for chicken from consumers, according to Reuters. Hawley’s bill would remove incentives for large corporations to buy up smaller meat producers, which he says eliminates competition and drives up costs.