Attorney General Janet Reno told 11 farm-state senators Tuesday she will give "greater attention and more closely examine the issues" surrounding concentration in the agricultural industry.  The senators met with Reno to request that the Justice Department intensify its efforts to examine the consequence of economic concentration in agriculture.

"The attorney general made a commitment to us that she would give this matter greater attention and more closely examine the issues raised by economic concentration," said Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA), one of the senators attending the meeting.

"One very positive step was that the attorney general promised that Justice Department officials will go into the Midwest and other agriculture regions to collect information and listen to the views of people directly affected by economic concentration," he added.  "This information will help the Justice Department formulate its course of action for responding to this problem."

Most of the senators meeting with Reno discussed concentration in the meat and grain industries, said Sen. Russell Feingold (D-WI).  Feingold, however, focused on the dairy industry.

He cited a report by the National Commission on Small Farms that in 1981, dairy farmers received a national average of $13.76 per hundredweight of milk while retail prices for milk were about $1.85 per gallon.

In August 1997, Feingold says, dairy farmers received an average of $12.70 per cwt. and retail prices were $2.76 per gallon.

That meant dairy farmers were getting more than a dollar less for their milk but consumers were paying about 90 cents more
than in 1981.

"We have heard a great deal in the press and in this meeting about `merger mania' in the grain and livestock industries," Feingold said, "but for too long, mergers in the dairy industry have gone unnoticed.  I am very concerned about the potential negative effects mergers are having on the dairy industry in the Upper Midwest."