Before The Meat Trust (to the small farmer): My friend, why don’t you raise a few cattle each year? The price of beef is high. You will make good money.
After The Meat Trust (to same small farmer): The price I offer for your cattle is low, is it? Well, you may take it or leave it, my friend. There is nobody else for you to sell to.
[Udo J. Keppler. Tweedledee and Tweedledum. 1913.]
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“In 1979 a beef producer’s share of the consumer dollar was 64%. The Producer’s share has declined to an all time low of 49%.”
Bringing producer share up to date
Producers have lost around $1,500 per head of their share of the consumer beef dollar to the meatpacker/retailer cartel. Rural America is now living off the waste stream of the national economy via dollar stores on it’s way to third-world status.
