Senator William Rogers III
@WSRIIISenate
rogers.senate.gov | Bozeman, MT
The MARKET Act will ensure food safety, open up state-inspected beef to the interstate market, give internships to college agriculture and agribusiness students interested in meat inspection, let small custom slaughter businesses sell their beef locally, and put profits in the hands of farmers and ranchers rather than bureaucrats and big packing companies. Its passage would be a huge victory not just for cattle producers, but also for Americans trying to afford to feed their families. See my featured op-ed in the Western Ag Reporter at the link below:
www.westernagreporter.com/oped/RogersMARKET
OPINION: Congress can level the playing field for small farmers
Billings, Montana
By: Senator William S. Rogers III (D-MT)
Congress has an unprecedented opportunity to pass a bipartisan bill that could provide real and lasting benefits to thousands of small farmers and millions of consumers across America.
The bill, the Meat Access, Regulation, Knowledge, and Ethical Treatment Act (“MARKET Act”), would level the playing field for small farmers around the country who raise cattle, pigs, and sheep for human consumption.
States have been prohibited from setting their own inspection rules since Congress passed the Wholesome Meat Act in 1967. Under that law, USDA inspectors or state inspectors enforcing regulations at least equal to USDA rules are present whenever animals are being slaughtered or processed.
“Ranchers like me always have known the fragility of our food supply,” says Cassandra Jones, who runs a family enterprise with her husband near Malta, Montana. “We always knew deliveries could be shut off within 48 hours, and meat cases could be empty.”
I grew up on the Lazy R Ranch in Twin Bridges, Montana. My family, and many of the other cattle ranchers I know, have often been approached by consumers looking for locally-sourced beef. Due to the USDA’s strict rules that criminalize the sale of meat processed at small slaughterhouses, ranchers have to turn away people who want to buy local beef post-slaughter, rather than arranging processing at a local, state-regulated facility.
If ranchers want to sell anything, they must transport their livestock to centralized feedlots and processing facilities often hundreds of miles away. Besides creating stress for animals and wasting resources, the long journey pulls workers away from daily chores. “I feel fortunate that I only have to drive 150 miles,” Jones says.
Under the MARKET Act, the USDA would maintain its undisputed regulatory authority over the slaughter and sale of meat across state lines. The MARKET Act would simply provide states with the option to regulate livestock slaughter and sale within their borders, and allows state-regulated facilities to engage in the interstate sale of meat if provided a certificate to do so by the USDA.
Critics rightly complain that the agency’s one-size-fits-all rules often act to the detriment of small producers. But other problems are also evident. According to USDA data analyzed by the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund, a nonprofit group that advocates for the rights of small farmers and their customers, slaughterhouse consolidation spurred by the Wholesome Meat Act is responsible for closing more than 7,000 of the 10,000 facilities that existed in 1967, the year the law was passed.
What’s more, though America’s food supply is remarkably safe today, the current USDA inspection system is plagued with problems. In 2007, the USDA was forced to admit its inspectors had failed to perform regular inspections at many facilities for at least three decades. More recently, the agency ordered nearly 9 million pounds of meat to be destroyed after a USDA-approved slaughterhouse was found to have processed cows that suffered from eye cancer.
Many states are willing to operate their own inspection systems. Already, more than half of the states operate their own inspection facilities under rules that are at least as strict as those the USDA requires. Demand for the specific reforms offered by the MARKET Act is evident, too, in many states.
For example, though a bipartisan Wyoming law passed in 2015 deregulated local food production inside state borders. In 2017, Maine passed a similar law that allows cities and towns to regulate local food sales inside their borders. But neither state’s law applies to meat, and since adopting their respective laws both Wyoming and Maine have faced threats from the USDA over the issue of meat processing and sales.
In addition to the USDA, large, powerful interest groups that represent big meat producers oppose the MARKET Act. Though they’ve couched their arguments against the bill in dire predictions about its potential to impact food safety, those food-safety fears are as disingenuous as they are unsupported by evidence. In reality, these large meat producer lobby groups and their members fear competition from smaller competitors.
The fact is, corporations Tyson, Cargill, JBS, and National Beef dominate more than 80% of the US meat market. In 2019, a slaughterhouse fire in Kansas wiped out over 5% of US beef production overnight. The current regulatory scheme around meat production has created a centralized industry where the effects of food contamination and supply shortage are highly exacerbated. For both greater food security and providing better, healthier, locally-grown meat options, the MARKET Act delivers.
In fact, passage of the MARKET Act could usher in important improvements in food safety. For example, by reversing decades of consolidation, the growing number of slaughterhouses competing for farmer dollars would likely give farmers more opportunities to shop around and partner only with slaughter facilities that maximize their values and that champion food safety.
In a time of growing partisan divide, the MARKET Act is a bipartisan solution to a decades-old problem created by Congress itself. Republicans, like co-sponsors Diane Paulson (R-ME), Thomas Volker (R-MO), and Earl Tenson (R-MT) support the MARKET Act because they find federal regulations intrusive and cumbersome. Democrats like myself support the MARKET Act because the bill would help local farmers and ranchers, particularly those who raise grass-fed beef, compete with larger producers. And everyone, no matter party, should support this bill to allow more variety and competition in the meatpacking marketplace.
Americans are eating more meat than ever. They’re also rediscovering the joys of eating locally produced foods. The MARKET Act would help farmers better meet these intertwined consumer demands.
The nonprofit Institute for Justice, a public-interest law firm that fights for economic liberty, has joined the campaign urging lawmakers to pass the MARKET Act. The bill makes sense under any circumstance, but especially during the current economic crisis.
Custom slaughterhouses that were busy before the economic downturn are now booked months in advance. Some ranchers can’t get appointments until July 2022. The backlog shows high demand for local meat processing, but neighborhood butchers do not step in to fill the gap due to onerous regulations that punish small operations.
“There are not enough butchers because of regulations,” says Dena Hoffman, a farmer and sheep rancher from Glendive, Montana. “Passing the MARKET Act would help reverse the trend.”
As more custom slaughterhouses opened, ranchers who currently lack a Plan B would have alternatives — a much better solution than euthanizing millions of animals because they have nowhere to go. Even without the risk of supply chain disruption, consumers like knowing where their food comes from. And due to the MARKET Act’s provision that custom slaughterhouses still meet the requirements of periodic USDA inspections, we can trust that our food will be slaughtered in a manner that meets the highest ethical standards.
Something powerful happens when buyers and sellers meet face to face. Food becomes more than a commodity. It connects people to each other and the land.
MARKET Act opponents cite hypothetical health concerns, but farmers point to real-world evidence that custom-exempt slaughterhouses are safe. In response to a public records request from the Farm & Ranch Freedom Alliance, the USDA reported zero cases of foodborne illness at custom slaughterhouses in at least the past eight years.
Many consumers paid little attention to meat distribution prior to this year, but the economic downturn provided a wakeup call. People with new awareness must act. A good place to start would be reaching out to their representatives in the U.S. House and Senate, urging support for the MARKET Act.
Ranchers have sufficient meat for every home. What they need are more slaughterhouses. We can ensure that the plentiful supply of meat from America's farmers and ranchers can reach the tables of American families safely and affordably with the passage of the MARKET Act.
