Over thirty years ago, Dr. William Heffernan was traveling the country warning cattle producers of the dangers awaiting them in contract poultry growing, how it enslaved growers with debt and relegated them to a life of servitude under the boot of corporate integrators. For the most part, except for organizations like R-CALF and the Organization for Competitive Markets, cattle groups like National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and Farm Bureau praised the direction of the industry under the control of a handful of transnational corporations, making beef more vertically integrated, like poultry – known as “Chickenization.”
So today, we have the lowest cow numbers in seventy-five years. McDonalds is suing the big four packers for unnecessary herd liquidation, half our ranchers are out of business, we’re making cattle weigh 1,500 pounds to make up for the lack of supply, with 37% too lame to walk soundly to slaughter. 2025 Brazilian beef imports are up 288% over 2024, and JBS, the biggest meatpacker in the world and convicted criminal, too crooked to be bankable, is going after the free investment money of the NYSE.
Walmart has built it’s Angus supply chain avoiding the big meatpackers. Is Bezos looking to do the same for his Amazon and Whole Foods?
Meanwhile, Jeff Bezos is catching hell for throwing a few dollars at the American Angus Association, seeing that his big competitor, Walmart, is making investments with Creekstone, 44 Farms, Sustainable Beef, etc., in their chicken-like vertical beef supply chain featuring the Angus breed. So can we blame Bezos?
We are honestly almost there in the complete “Chickenization” of the cattle and beef industries where all wealth is extracted, leaving the people that invest the capital and do the work of ranching, with no options but to submit, as a cost to be reduced, to the concentrated power of big meatpacking, big food service, and big retail.
Listen to Dr. Heffernan explain, with remarks directed at IBP’s Robert Peterson, during the 1996 South Dakota Governor’s Cattle Conference.
“When corporations come in, the return, the profits, the
economic base of our rural communities is cut precipitously.”
Dr. William Heffernan
Dr. Heffernan warns Bob Peterson, IBP wasn’t big enough to compete with transnational conglomerates. Five years later, IBP, the largest beef and hog slaughterer in the world was purchased by the biggest chicken integrator, Tyson. The king of meats was dethroned by big chicken, and cattle producers were placed on the road to serfdom and a cost on a P&L to be reduced.
Why are big food retailers building their own supply chains? Because they intend to extract every dollar possible from agriculture.
“Retailers are robbing the bank and the meatpackers are driving the getaway car.” — Until the pandemic gave the meatpackers the upper hand, revealing the fragility of the meatpacker/retailer cartel.
The Walmart family and Bezos will fight to keep their unfair share of the consumer dollar, forcing U.S. cattle producers out of business. They didn’t like it when Tyson and the other big meatpackers price gouged them during the pandemic.
To hear the complete list of speakers, including IBP president and CEO, Robert Peterson blaming South Dakota Cattle producers for the ills of the industry, go to the 1996 South Dakota Governor’s Cattle Conference
The picture above is from a 2003 presentation at the Tiffin Center in Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada. As you can see from the following presentation, there was push back to the growing corporate concentration, but only by a few, mostly ignored voices.
