WASHINGTON — A group of US senators reintroduced the latest version of the Meat and Poultry Special Investigator Act of 2025.

If passed, the bill would establish the Office of Special Investigator for Competition Matters within the US Department of Agriculture and would be appointed by the Agriculture Secretary. The new legisaltionw would also investigate violations of the Packers and Stockyards Act.

This week, Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) led the latest bill along with five other bipartisan co-sponsors.

“For too long, Oregon ranchers and consumers have been greedily exploited by the Big Four meatpackers that sneak their way around regulations,” Wyden said. “While local ranchers work tirelessly day and night to support their small business and feed families across the country, these big companies keep raking in bigger bills at the expense of local communities in red and blue states alike. It’s way past time to level the playing field for local ranchers and bring grocery prices down for consumers at the meat counter by better enforcing laws that are already on the books.”

This proposed legislation first started in Congress in 2021 and went into the Senate Ag Committee with Senators Mike Rounds (R-SD), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and now former Senator Jon Tester (D-Mont.) sponsoring the bill.

The bill eventually advanced out of the committee but did not see a full vote in the Senate. Rounds and Grassley were part of the reintroduction of the bill during 2023. 

“For decades, America’s Big Four meatpackers’ anticompetitive practices have made it harder for Iowa cattle producers to receive a fair price,” Grassley said in a recent update. “Our bill empowers USDA, in coordination with the Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission, to crack down on bad actors, ensuring a fair and functional marketplace that supports everyone who produces and enjoys quality American meat.”

The Meat Institute expressed its opinion on the proposed bill stating it remained unecessary. 

"As of January 1, the cattle herd in the U.S. is its smallest since 1951.  Because of the laws of supply and demand, beef producers continue to earn sustained high and even record high prices for their cattle,” Julie Anna Potts president and chief executive offier of the Meat Institute. “As industry experts predicted years ago, there are not enough cattle to harvest to meet consumer demand.  Even imports of lean trim for grinding into hamburger are at record levels and record prices.  If these Senators wish to reduce the price of beef, the Meat Institute can point to burdensome and costly regulations enacted by the Biden Administration that can be rolled back, labor challenges that can improve production, export markets that can be opened and tax relief that can be extended.” 

The latest bill was endorsed by the National Farmers Union and the US Cattlemen’s Association.