A bipartisan bill that could help increase competition in livestock markets has been introduced into the U.S. House.
Chelsea Good with the Livestock Marketing Association says additional slaughter capacity is needed and the Amplifying Processing of Livestock in the US (A-PLUS) Act will help spur expansion. “There’s a current regulatory barrier that keeps livestock auction owners from being able to own or invest in a packing facility,” she says. “So what this bill would do is it would fix that antiquated rule and it would allow a livestock auction owner to own or invest in a packing facility so long as it’s below a certain size.”
The bill would allow livestock auction owners to own or invest in a meatpacking entity with a cumulative slaughter capacity of fewer than 2,000 animals per day or 700,000 per year.
