Livestock Marketing: USDA's Oversight of Competitiveness Needs to Be Enhanced

GAO discussed the Packers and Stockyards Administration's (PSA) current role in overseeing the livestock and meat-packing industries. GAO noted that: (1) national concentration in the meat-packing industry has increased during the last two decades; (2) such high concentration underscores the need for PSA to monitor for anticompetitive behavior; (3) livestock procurement markets are regional, but PSA does not regularly collect and analyze the necessary data to define and monitor regional markets; (4) PSA recently agreed on the need to monitor livestock markets on a regional basis; and (5) in light of the changing nature of livestock marketing, PSA is planning to review the adequacy of all of its regulations.