Senate Committee Strikes Competition Title

November 14, 2001

The Senate Agriculture Committee Tuesday voted 12-9 to strip from its bill a controversial section on agricultural competition. The section, championed by populists and others concerned about excessive concentration in agriculture, was opposed by agribusiness and some producer groups who feared it would discourage needed capital investment.

All the committee's Republicans were joined by Democrats Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas and Zell Miller of Georgia in support of a motion by ranking Republican Richard Lugar of Indiana. Lugar's motion had the effect of removing from the bill not only anti-concentration provisions, but also sections that would have mandated country-of-origin labeling for some imported commodities.

The competition issue is among the most divisive in agriculture, and the committee debated it at length. Opponents charged that the bill's provisions would lead to increased litigation and would interfere with normal contractual relationships between producers and their customers. Still, the provisions in Chairman Tom Harkin's bill were milder than some proposed remedies – they did prohibit packers from owning animals, for instance, as some Senators have suggested.

The committee resumes its markup Wednesday at 10:00 with debate on nutrition programs, and is expected to commence the most contentious part of its deliberations – on conservation and commodity programs – in the afternoon.