Author
Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack deflects on future career plans, regulatory ‘revolving door’
MADISON, Wis. — Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, who moved into a dairy lobbying position following his first go around as head of the USDA, did not reject making a similar move once his current time as secretary ends. Speaking to reporters last week at the World Dairy Expo in Madison, Vilsack was asked by Investigate […]
Tyson Foods annual sales have doubled in the past two decades
Tyson Foods annual sales have doubled in the past two decades, increasing from $26 billion to $53 billion from 2004 to 2023, according to a review of U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings. Yet Tyson, which is the country’s largest chicken company, has closed nine meatpacking plants over the past year — including two in […]
Meat industry increases political spending, lobbying as USDA updates crucial regulations
Meat industry groups and major meat companies spent more than $10 million on political contributions and lobbying efforts in 2023. For some, last year’s spending was an all-time high. The federal government has been rolling out changes to the protections given to livestock and poultry producers, as well as how these farmers operate. In turn, […]
Chicken farmers stuck with uncertainty, massive loans in wake of Tyson Foods closures
Timothy Bundren must have heard wrong. The sun wasn’t up yet. He was still groggy from starting his morning routine of walking through chicken barns. His phone rang and his contact with the global meat company headquartered in Springdale, Arkansas, just two hours south of his farm, started telling him he would no longer be […]
Droughts, complicated by climate change, result in US beef herd hitting historic low
Thirty years ago, the weather on Annie Doerr’s family ranch felt reliable. Now that she’s taken over from her parents, it’s been anything but. In recent years, drought has made finding good pastureland for beef cattle to graze increasingly difficult. “I always pray for a normal year,” she said, “which I don’t really know what […]
With California’s Prop 12 now law, pork producers adapt while lobbying groups continue to fight
In 2021, two years before California enacted new hog confinement standards for pork to be sold within its borders, Seaboard Foods said it would “no longer sell certain whole pork products” in the state. Passed in 2018, California’s Farm Animal Confinement Initiative, often referred to as Proposition 12, required pork producers to give sows, or […]
Small meat processors say USDA measures don’t address consolidated industry’s root problems
Over the past two decades, Greg Gunthorp carved out a niche operating a small meat processing plant in northern Indiana. He sold several kinds of meat to chic Chicago and Indianapolis restaurants and to Chicago O’Hare International Airport, he said. He also sold direct to consumers. But selling in grocery stores was not an option, […]