Packers and Stockyards
Overview
The Packers and Stockyards Act of 1921 ("PSA" or "Act"), 7 U.S.C. §§ 181-229, is designed to assure effective competition and integrity in livestock, meat, and poultry markets. It was enacted in response to concerns that the "Big Five" large meat packers- Swift & Company, Armour & Company, Cudahy Packing Company, Wilson & Company, and Morris & Company- had engaged in anticompetitive practices that had a deleterious effect on producers and consumers. See 10 Neil E. Harl, Agricultural Law, § 71.02 (1993) (providing an extensive discussion of the historical development of the PSA). Read the full overview.
Note: Recently added resources are posted at the top of the applicable sections.
Major Statutes
Regulations
Case Law
Note: Recently summarized cases are listed and linked in Recent Postings.
Administrative Law Decisions
Center Research Publications
Industries: Taking Stock of the Road Ahead (Pittman, 2005)
Congressional Research Service Reports
Animal Agriculture
Trade Regulation and Antitrust
Reference Resources
GIPSA Website
GIPSA Annual Reports
Assessments of the Cattle, Hog, and Poultry Industries
Concentration in the Red Meat Packing Industry (1996)
Economic Research Service (ERS) Reports:
Economic and Structural Relationships in U.S. Hog Production (2003)
Structural Change in U.S. Chicken and Turkey Slaughter (2000)
Consolidation in U.S. Meatpacking (1999)
Government Accountability Office Reports:
Reports on Packers and Stockyards Act
Economic Models of Cattle Prices: How USDA Can Improve Models to Explain
Cattle Prices (2002)
Packers and Stockyards Programs: USDA’s Response to Studies on Concentration in the
Livestock Industry (1997)
Packer Marketing Concentration and Cattle Prices (1990)
(FLAG, 2006)
(Carstensen, U. WI Law School, 2003)