Micheal Clements, NAFB News Service

Price fixing indictments in the chicken processing sector highlights the need for greater oversight, according to the National Farmers Union. Four current and former executives at Pilgrim’s Pride Corp. and Claxton Poultry Farms, both of which produce chicken, were indicted this week for colluding to inflate the prices of birds sold to grocery stores and restaurants. NFU says the indictments show there is a need for greater antitrust enforcement and farmer protections. NFU President Rob Larew says price fixing is “extremely harmful” to agriculture and consumers. However, he says price fixing is only a symptom of the much bigger problem of corporate consolidation, and companies are only able to employ anticompetitive business practices when they’ve gathered control over their respective industries. Larew says price fixing can be avoided by enforcement of antitrust policy, restoring competition in the agricultural marketplace reinstatement of the Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration and developing strong protections for farmers.