Competition issues in the US beef industry

This article analyzes the dynamics of the U.S. beef industry in light of the alleged input and output price-fixing cartel of the four largest beef packers revealed in the antitrust lawsuits filed by fed cattle producers and beef buyers in 2019. Empirical evidence suggests that beef production, the farm, wholesale, and retail values of beef, and marketing margins increased, but farm sector share decreased in the cartel period (2015-2019), as compared with a prior period (2010-2014). The wholesale beef pricing by beef packers shifted from being consistent with a perfectly competitive industry pricing in the pre-cartel period to being consistent with the oligopoly and monopoly pricing in the cartel period. The retail beef pricing by food retailers was consistent with an oligopoly pricing in both periods. Beef packers and food retailers shifted to an output (beef) price stabilization practice in the cartel period.