WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) today announced the introduction of a bill that would put an 18-month moratorium on large agribusiness, food and beverage manufacturing, and grocery retail mergers and acquisitions. S.3404, The Food and Agribusiness Merger Moratorium and Antitrust Review Act of 2018, is aimed at the unprecedented concentration in the agriculture and food sectors, which is squeezing small family farmers, driving down wages for workers, and hurting rural communities.
In just the past two years, chemical and seed company acquisitions and mergers have allowed just three companies to control two-thirds of the crop seed and nearly 70 percent of the agriculture chemical markets. Meanwhile, net farm income for US farmers has fallen by more than half in just five years.
“Today, a small number of giant companies control every link of our food chain,” Booker said. “Consolidation has now reached a point where the top four firms in almost every sector of the food and agriculture economy have acquired abusive levels of market power. As a result, the U.S. is losing farmers at an alarming rate, agricultural jobs and wages are drying up, and rural communities are disappearing.”
“These challenges can be mitigated by more active use of our antitrust laws, and allowing an opportunity for U.S. farmers and ranchers to compete in fair and open markets,” Booker continued. “This bill would put a much-needed pause on the largest, most consequential acquisitions and mergers in the food and agriculture sector, and give Congress an opportunity to update our antitrust laws in order to better protect America’s farmers, workers, consumers, and rural communities who are being harmed by the ever-increasing levels of corporate concentration.”
The bill, modeled after a similar proposal introduced 20 years ago by the late Senator Paul Wellstone of Minnesota, would also establish a commission to study ways to strengthen antitrust oversight of the farm and food sectors and recommend improvements to merger enforcement.
Booker has been a fierce advocate in the Senate for cracking down on monopolistic corporate practices that hurt consumers and workers. Earlier this year, he introduced the Worker Dividend Act, targeting the increasing trend of corporations using profits for stock buybacks instead of using them to raise wages for workers. In February, he and Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) introduced a bill to crack down on collusive “no poaching” clauses that are often used by large franchisors to prohibit franchisees from hiring each other’s workers (End Employer Collusion Act). In larger part due to their efforts, several large fast-food chains have recently announced plans to end such clauses.
Last year, Booker introduced a bill targeting companies that outsource much of their labor costs to contractors and temp workers rather than hiring direct employees. He also pressed antitrust regulators on corporate concentration and the increasing trend of “monopsony” power, which limits worker mobility and depresses wages.
The Food and Agribusiness Merger Moratorium and Antitrust Review Act is endorsed by the following organizations:
ActionAid USA
Alabama Contract Poultry Growers Association
Alliance for Democracy
American Agriculture Movement
American Grassfed Association
Animal Wellness Action
Appetite for Change (MN)
Beyond Pesticides
California Dairy Campaign
California Farmers Union
Campaign for Contract Agriculture Reform
Campaign for Family Farms and the Environment
Cattle Producers of Louisiana
Center for Food Safety
Community Farm Alliance (KY)
Contract Poultry Growers Association of the Virginias
The Cornucopia Institute
Crawford Stewardship Project (WI)
Dakota Rural Action of SD
Dallas Farmers Market Friends
Family Farm Action
Family Farm Defenders (WI)
Farm Aid
Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance
Farm Women United
Farmworker Association of Florida
Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund
Food & Water Watch
Food Chain Workers Alliance
Food for Maine's Future
Food Policy Council of San Antonio
Friends of the Earth U.S.
Government Accountability Project
GROW North Texas
HEAL Food Alliance
Idaho Organization of Resource Councils
Illinois Farmers Union
Illinois Stewardship Alliance
Independent Cattlemen of Wyoming
Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy
Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement
Iowa Farmers Union
Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future (MD)
Kansas Farmers Union
Land Stewardship Project (MN)
Michigan Farmers Union
Minnesota Farmers Union
Missouri Farmers Union
Missouri National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
Missouri Rural Crisis Center
National Family Farm Coalition
National Farmers Organization
National Farmers Union
National Latino Farmers & Ranchers Trade Association
National Women Involved in Farm Economics
Nebraska Farmers Union
North Dakota Farmers Union
Northeast Organic Dairy Producers Alliance
Northeast Organic Farming Assoc. - MA
Northeast Organic Farming Assoc. - NY
Northeast Organic Farming Assoc. - VT
Northern Plains Resource Council (MT)
Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance (MA)
Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association
Oklahoma Independent Stockgrowers Association
Oklahoma Stewardship Council
Organic Farmers' Agency for Relationship Marketing (OFARM)
Organic Seed Alliance
Organic Seed Growers & Trade Association (OSGATA)
Organization for Competitive Markets
PCC Community Markets (WA)
Pennsylvania Farmers Union
Powder River Basin Resource Council (WY)
R-CALF United Stockgrowers of America
Rocky Mountain Farmers Union
Rural Advancement Foundation International - USA (RAFI-USA)
Rural Coalition/Coalición Rural
Rural Vermont
Slow Food Dallas-Ft. Worth
South Dakota Farmers Union
Southern Colorado Livestock Association
Western Colorado Alliance
Western Organization of Resource Councils (WORC)
Wisconsin Farmers Union