FORT COLLINS, Colo. — Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Attorney General Eric Holder got an earful from each side over proposed changes to the Packers and Stockyards Act when they held a workshop here Aug. 27 on antitrust issues in the meat industry.
But by the end of the day it was not clear where the Obama administration is headed in its large-scale investigation into antitrust in agriculture.
The meat industry workshop was the fourth of five workshops Vilsack and Holder are conducting around the country to try to figure out if antitrust laws have been violated as input suppliers and buyers of commodities and meat animals have merged in recent years.
Vilsack said he is concerned about population loss in rural America and wants to find out if concentration in agriculture is making it hard for producers to make a living.
But while previous workshops on the seed, dairy and poultry industries explored the issues for future action, the Fort Collins event turned into a referendum on a Packers and Stockyards Act rule that the administration has already issued.
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