Farm Action has announced the release of data across the food and agriculture sectors, revealing market shares held by top firms. The non-profit organization stated that this is the most up-to-date and comprehensive concentration data available.
According to a Farm Action press release, the recently released data is intended for policymakers and the general public. "The data illustrate the indisputable control that a handful of corporations now have over food and agriculture markets," Angela Huffman, president of Farm Action, stated in the release.
Farm Action, a nonprofit dedicated to fighting corporate monopolies in the food industry, said market abuses typically happen when the concentration ratio of the top four companies (CR4) ranges above 40%, which is occurring in nearly all food and agriculture sectors. U.S. Corn Seed, for example, has a CR4 of 80%; North America Nitrogen Fertilizer’s CR4 is at 77%; and U.S. Agricultural Machinery’s CR4 is at 60.8%.
The data is featured on Farm Action’s new Food and Agriculture Consolidation Data Hub. Additional data will be rolled out in stages over the next few months to show how corporate concentration of power allowed a small number of corporations to control how Americans farm, work, and eat.
"Farm Action has been encouraged by the Biden administration’s focus on rolling back monopolies’ market dominance," Huffman said in the press release. "We have witnessed vital reforms, including bringing integrity to the ‘Product of U.S.A.’ meat label, strengthening the Packers and Stockyards Act, and issuing new merger guidelines. As we prepare to welcome a new incoming administration, we’re at the ready to provide them with the information necessary to address this unprecedented consolidation."
