I 
115TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 6800 
To impose a moratorium on large agribusiness, food and beverage manufac-
turing, and grocery retail mergers, and to establish a commission to 
review large agriculture, food and beverage manufacturing, and grocery 
retail mergers, concentration, and market power. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 13, 2018 
Mr. POCAN (for himself, Ms. PINGREE, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. KHANNA, Ms. 
DELAURO, and Mr. ELLISON) introduced the following bill; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committee 
on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 
Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within 
the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To impose a moratorium on large agribusiness, food and 
beverage manufacturing, and grocery retail mergers, and 
to establish a commission to review large agriculture, 
food and beverage manufacturing, and grocery retail 
mergers, concentration, and market power. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Food and Agribusiness 
Merger Moratorium and Antitrust Review Act of 2018’’. 
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SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) Concentration in the food and agricultural 
economy, including mergers, acquisitions, and other 
combinations and alliances among suppliers, pack-
ers, integrators, other food processors, distributors, 
and retailers has been accelerating at a rapid pace 
since the 1980s, and particularly since the 2007 
through 2009 recession. 
(2) The trend toward greater concentration in 
food and agriculture has important and far reaching 
implications not only for family farmers, but also for 
the food we eat, the communities we live in, and the 
integrity of the natural environment upon which we 
all depend. 
(3) In the past three decades, the top 4 largest 
pork packers have seized control of 71 percent of the 
market, up from 36 percent. Over the same period, 
the top 4 beef packers have expanded their market 
share from 32 percent to 85 percent. The top 4 flour 
millers have increased their market share from 40 
percent to 64 percent. The market share of the top 
4 soybean crushers has jumped from 54 percent to 
79 percent, and the top 4 wet corn processors con-
trol of the market has increased from 63 percent to 
86 percent. 
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(4) Today the top 4 sheep, poultry, and fluid 
milk processors now control 57 percent, 53 percent, 
and 50 percent of the market, respectively. 
(5) The top 4 grain companies today control 
nearly 90 percent of the global grain trade. 
(6) During the past 2 years there has been a 
wave of consolidation among global seed and crop- 
chemical firms, 3 companies now control nearly 2⁄3 
of the world’s commodity crop seeds. Those same 3 
companies now also control nearly 70 percent of all 
agricultural chemicals and pesticides. 
(7) In the United States, the 4 largest corn 
seed sellers accounted for 85 percent of the market 
in 2015, up from 60 percent in 2000. Over the past 
20 years, the cost for an acre’s worth of seeds for 
an average corn farmer has nearly quadrupled, and 
the cost of fertilizer has more than doubled. Yet 
corn yields increased only 36 percent over that time, 
and the price received for the sale of a bushel of 
corn increased only 31 percent. 
(8) A handful of firms dominate the processing 
of every major commodity. Many of them are 
vertically integrated, which means that they control 
successive stages of the food chain, from inputs to 
production to distribution. The growing number and 
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scale of cross-border agribusiness and food mergers 
have put foreign firms, often with considerable gov-
ernment backing, into prominent and even dominant 
positions in the United States beef, hog, poultry, 
seed, fertilizer, and agrichemical sectors. 
(9) Growing concentration of the agricultural 
sector has restricted choices for farmers trying to 
sell their products. As the bargaining power of agri-
business firms over farmers increases, concentrated 
agricultural commodity markets are stacked against 
the farmer, with buyers of agricultural commodities 
often possessing regional dominance in the form of 
oligopsony or monopsony relative to sellers of such 
commodities. 
(10) The high concentration and consolidation 
of buyers in agricultural markets has resulted in the 
thinning of both cash and futures markets, thereby 
allowing dominant buyers to leverage their market 
shares to move those markets to the detriment of 
family farmers and ranchers. 
(11) Buyers with oligopsonistic or monopso-
nistic power have incentives to engage in unfair and 
discriminatory acts that cause farmers to receive less 
than a competitive price for their goods. At the same 
time, some Federal courts have incorrectly required 
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a plaintiff to show harm to competition generally, in 
addition to harm to the individual farmer, when 
making a determination that an unfair, unjustly dis-
criminatory, deceptive, or preferential act exists 
under the Packers and Stockyards Act of 1921. 
(12) The farmer’s share of every retail dollar 
has plummeted from 41 percent in 1950, to approxi-
mately 15 percent today, while the profit share for 
farm input, marketing, and processing companies 
has risen. 
(13) While agribusiness conglomerates are post-
ing record earnings, farmers are facing desperate 
times. Since 2013, net farm income for United 
States farmers has fallen by more than half and me-
dian on farm income was negative in 2017 and is ex-
pected to be negative in 2018. 
(14) The benefits of low commodity prices are 
not being passed on to American consumers. The 
gap between what shoppers pay for food and what 
farmers are paid is growing wider. 
(15) Concentration, low prices, anticompetitive 
practices, and other manipulations and abuses of the 
agricultural economy are driving small family farm-
ers out of business. Farmers are going bankrupt or 
giving up, and few are taking their places; more 
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farm families are having to rely on other jobs to stay 
afloat. Eighty-two percent of farm household income 
is expected to come from off farm work this year, up 
from 53 percent in 1960. 
(16) Seventy-five percent of America’s farmed 
cropland is now controlled by 12 percent of farms, 
and the number of farmers leaving the land will con-
tinue to increase unless and until these trends are 
reversed. 
(17) The decline of small family farms under-
mines the economies of rural communities across 
America; it has pushed Main Street businesses, from 
equipment suppliers to small banks, out of business 
or to the brink of insolvency. 
(18) Increased concentration in the agribusiness 
sector has a harmful effect on the environment; cor-
porate hog farming, for example, threatens the in-
tegrity of local water supplies and creates noxious 
odors in neighboring communities. Concentration 
also can increase the risks to food safety and limit 
the biodiversity of plants and animals. 
(19) The decline of family farming poses a di-
rect threat to American families and family values, 
by subjecting farm families to turmoil and stress. 
Farm advocates across the country are reporting an 
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increase in farmer suicides over the past several 
years. 
(20) The decline of family farming causes the 
demise of rural communities, as stores lose cus-
tomers, churches lose congregations, schools and 
clinics become under-used, career opportunities for 
young people dry up, and local inequalities of wealth 
and income grow wider. 
(21) These developments are not the result of 
inevitable market forces. Its problems arise rather 
from policies made in Washington, including farm, 
antitrust, and trade policies. 
(22) Past congressional action to remediate 
market failure, such as enacting country-of-origin la-
beling to provide transparency for domestic farmers, 
ranchers, and consumers regarding agricultural com-
modity origins, have been overturned for key com-
modities by oligopolistic conglomerates that use un-
differentiated imports to reduce domestic farm 
prices. 
(23) To restore competition in the agricultural 
economy, and to increase the bargaining power and 
enhance economic prospects for family farmers, the 
trend toward concentration must be reversed. 
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SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) AGRICULTURAL
INPUT
SUPPLIER.—The 
term ‘‘agricultural input supplier’’ means any person 
(excluding agricultural cooperatives) engaged in the 
business of selling, in interstate or foreign com-
merce, any product to be used as an input (including 
seed, germ plasm, hormones, antibiotics, fertilizer, 
and chemicals, but excluding farm machinery) for 
the production of any agricultural commodity, except 
that no person shall be considered an agricultural 
input supplier if sales of such products are for a 
value less than $10,000,000 per year. 
(2) BROKER.—The term ‘‘broker’’ means any 
person engaged in the business of negotiating sales 
and purchases of any agricultural commodity in 
interstate or foreign commerce for or on behalf of 
the vendor or the purchaser, except that no person 
shall be considered a broker if the only sales of such 
commodities are for a value less than $10,000,000 
per year. 
(3) COMMISSION MERCHANT.—The term ‘‘com-
mission merchant’’ means any person engaged in the 
business of receiving in interstate or foreign com-
merce any agricultural commodity for sale, on com-
mission, or for or on behalf of another, except that 
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no person shall be considered a commission mer-
chant if the only sales of such commodities are for 
a value less than $10,000,000 per year. 
(4) DEALER.—The term ‘‘dealer’’ means any 
person (excluding agricultural cooperatives) engaged 
in the business of buying, selling, or marketing agri-
cultural commodities in interstate or foreign com-
merce, except that— 
(A) no person shall be considered a dealer 
with respect to sales or marketing of any agri-
cultural commodity of that person’s own rais-
ing; and 
(B) no person shall be considered a dealer 
if the only sales of such commodities are for a 
value less than $10,000,000 per year. 
(5) 
INTEGRATOR.—The 
term 
‘‘integrator’’ 
means an entity that contracts with farmers for 
grower services to raise chickens or hogs to slaugh-
ter size and weight. The integrator owns the chick-
ens or hogs, supplies the feed, slaughters, and fur-
ther processes the poultry or pork. 
(6) PROCESSOR.—The term ‘‘processor’’ means 
any person (excluding agricultural cooperatives) en-
gaged in the business of handling, preparing, or 
manufacturing (including slaughtering and food and 
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beverage manufacturing) of an agricultural com-
modity, or the products of such agricultural com-
modity, for sale or marketing for human consump-
tion, except that no person shall be considered a 
processor if the only sales of such products are for 
a value less than $10,000,000 per year. 
(7) RETAILER.—The term ‘‘retailer’’ means any 
person (excluding agricultural cooperatives) licensed 
as a retailer under the Perishable Agriculture Com-
modities Act of 1930 (7 U.S.C. 499a(b)), except 
that no person shall be considered a retailer if the 
only sales of such products are for a value less than 
$10,000 per year. 
TITLE 
I—MORATORIUM 
ON 
LARGE AGRIBUSINESS, FOOD 
AND 
BEVERAGE 
MANUFAC-
TURING, AND GROCERY RE-
TAIL MERGERS 
SEC. 101. MORATORIUM ON LARGE AGRIBUSINESS, FOOD 
AND BEVERAGE MANUFACTURING, AND GRO-
CERY RETAIL MERGERS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.— 
(1) MORATORIUM.—Until the date referred to 
in paragraph (2) and except as provided in sub-
section (b)— 
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(A) no dealer, processor, commission mer-
chant, agricultural input supplier, broker, or 
operator of a warehouse of agricultural com-
modities or retailer with annual net sales or 
total assets of more than $160,000,000 shall 
merge or acquire, directly or indirectly, any vot-
ing securities or assets of any other dealer, 
processor, commission merchant, agricultural 
input supplier, broker, or operator of a ware-
house of agricultural commodities or retailer 
with annual net sales or total assets of more 
than $16,000,000; and 
(B) no dealer, processor, commission mer-
chant, agricultural input supplier, broker, or 
operator of a warehouse of agricultural com-
modities or retailer with annual net sales or 
total assets of more than $16,000,000 shall 
merge or acquire, directly or indirectly, any vot-
ing securities or assets of any other dealer, 
processor, commission merchant, agricultural 
input supplier, broker, or operator of a ware-
house of agricultural commodities or retailer 
with annual net sales or total assets of more 
than $160,000,000 if the acquiring person 
would hold— 
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(i) 15 percent or more of the voting 
securities or assets of the acquired person; 
or 
(ii) an aggregate total amount of the 
voting securities and assets of the acquired 
person in excess of $15,000,000. 
(2) DATE.—The date referred to in this para-
graph is the earlier of— 
(A) the effective date of comprehensive leg-
islation— 
(i) addressing the problem of market 
concentration in the food and agricultural 
sector; and 
(ii) containing a section stating that 
the legislation is comprehensive legislation 
as provided in section 101 of the Food and 
Agribusiness Merger Moratorium and Anti-
trust Review Act of 2018; or 
(B) the date that is 18 months after the 
date of enactment of this Act. 
(b) WAIVER AUTHORITY.—The Attorney General 
shall have authority to waive the moratorium imposed by 
subsection (a) only under extraordinary circumstances, 
such as insolvency or similar financial distress of one of 
the affected parties. 
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(c) EXEMPTIONS.—The classes of transactions de-
scribed in section 7A(c) of the Clayton Act (15 U.S.C. 
18a(c)) are exempt from subsection (a). 
(d) AVOIDANCE.—Any transaction or other device en-
tered into or employed for the purpose of avoiding the 
moratorium contained in subsection (a) shall be dis-
regarded, and the application of the moratorium shall be 
determined by applying subsection (a) to the substance of 
the transaction. 
(e) RULEMAKING.—The Attorney General shall pro-
mulgate regulations that the Attorney General determines 
are necessary to implement this section. 
TITLE 
II—AGRICULTURE 
CON-
CENTRATION 
AND 
MARKET 
POWER REVIEW COMMISSION 
SEC. 201. ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMISSION. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a com-
mission to be known as the Food and Agriculture Con-
centration and Market Power Review Commission (here-
after in this title referred to as the ‘‘Commission’’). 
(b) PURPOSES.—The purpose of the Commission is 
to— 
(1) study the nature and consequences of con-
centration in America’s food and agricultural econ-
omy; and 
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(2) make recommendations on how to change 
underlying antitrust laws and other Federal laws 
and regulations to keep a fair and competitive agri-
culture marketplace for family farmers, other small 
and medium sized agriculture producers, generally, 
and the communities of which they are a part. 
(c) MEMBERSHIP OF COMMISSION.— 
(1) COMPOSITION.—The Commission shall be 
composed of 12 members as follows: 
(A) Three persons, one of whom shall be a 
person currently engaged in farming or ranch-
ing, shall be appointed by the President pro 
tempore of the Senate upon the recommenda-
tion of the Majority Leader of the Senate, after 
consultation with the Chairs of the Committee 
on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry and of 
the Committee on the Judiciary. 
(B) Three persons, one of whom shall be 
a person currently engaged in farming or 
ranching, shall be appointed by the President 
pro tempore of the Senate upon the rec-
ommendation of the Minority Leader of the 
Senate, after consultation with the ranking mi-
nority member of the Committee on Agri-
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culture, Nutrition, and Forestry and of the 
Committee on the Judiciary. 
(C) Three persons, one of whom shall be a 
person currently engaged in farming or ranch-
ing, shall be appointed by the Speaker of the 
House of Representatives, after consultation 
with the Chairs of the Committee on Agri-
culture and of the Committee on the Judiciary. 
(D) Three persons, one of whom shall be 
a person currently engaged in farming or 
ranching, shall be appointed by the Minority 
Leader of the House of Representatives, after 
consultation with the ranking minority member 
of the Committee on Agriculture and of the 
Committee on the Judiciary. 
(2) QUALIFICATIONS OF MEMBERS.— 
(A) APPOINTMENTS.—Persons who are ap-
pointed under paragraph (1) shall be persons 
who— 
(i) have experience in farming or 
ranching, expertise in agricultural econom-
ics and antitrust, or have other pertinent 
qualifications or experience relating to ag-
riculture and food and agriculture indus-
tries; and 
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(ii) are not officers or employees of 
the United States. 
(B) OTHER CONSIDERATION.—In appoint-
ing Commission members, every effort shall be 
made to ensure that the members— 
(i) are representative of a broad cross 
sector of agriculture and antitrust perspec-
tives within the United States; and 
(ii) provide fresh insights to analyzing 
the causes and impacts of concentration in 
agriculture industries and sectors. 
(d) PERIOD OF APPOINTMENT; VACANCIES.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Members shall be appointed 
not later than 60 days after the date of enactment 
of this Act and the appointment shall be for the life 
of the Commission. 
(2) VACANCIES.—Any vacancy in the Commis-
sion shall not affect its powers, but shall be filled in 
the same manner as the original appointment. 
(e) INITIAL MEETING.—Not later than 30 days after 
the date on which all members of the Commission have 
been appointed, the Commission shall hold its first meet-
ing. 
(f) MEETINGS.—The Commission shall meet at the 
call of the Chairperson. 
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(g) CHAIRPERSON AND VICE CHAIRPERSON.—The 
members of the Commission shall elect a chairperson and 
vice chairperson from among the members of the Commis-
sion. 
(h) QUORUM.—A majority of the members of the 
Commission shall constitute a quorum for the transaction 
of business. 
(i) VOTING.—Each member of the Commission shall 
be entitled to 1 vote, which shall be equal to the vote of 
every other member of the Commission. 
SEC. 202. DUTIES OF THE COMMISSION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall be respon-
sible for examining the nature, the causes, and con-
sequences of concentration in America’s agricultural econ-
omy in the broadest possible terms. 
(b) ISSUES TO BE ADDRESSED.—The study shall in-
clude an examination of the following matters: 
(1) The nature and extent of concentration in 
the food and agricultural sector, including food pro-
duction, manufacturing, transportation, processing, 
distribution, marketing, retailing, and farm inputs 
such as machinery, fertilizer, and seeds. 
(2) Current trends in concentration of the food 
and agricultural sector and what this sector is likely 
to look like in the near and longer term future. 
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(3) The effects of rising concentration on sup-
pliers and farmers, including independent and con-
tract farmers, with respect to— 
(A) competition in markets for their prod-
ucts and services; 
(B) income and benefit levels; 
(C) income distribution; 
(D) income volatility; and 
(E) other material benefits. 
(4) The impacts of this concentration upon 
rural communities, rural economic development, and 
the natural environment. 
(5) The impacts of concentration in the seed in-
dustry on genetic diversity in farm fields and any re-
lated impacts on food security. 
(6) The impacts of this concentration upon food 
shoppers, including the reasons that low farm prices 
have not resulted in corresponding drops in super-
market prices. 
(7) Whether farming is approaching a scale 
that is larger than necessary from the standpoint of 
productivity. 
(8) The effect of current laws and administra-
tive practices in supporting and encouraging this 
concentration. 
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(9) Whether the existing antitrust laws provide 
adequate safeguards against, and remedies for, the 
impacts of concentration upon family farms, the 
communities they comprise, and the food shoppers of 
this Nation. 
(10) Accurate and reliable data on the national 
and international markets shares of multinational 
agribusinesses, and the portion of their sales attrib-
utable to exports. 
(11) Barriers that inhibit entry of new competi-
tors into markets for the processing of agricultural 
commodities, such as the meat packing industry. 
(12) The extent to which developments, such as 
packer ownership of livestock, formula pricing, mar-
keting agreements, production contracting, forward 
contracting, and vertical integration tend to give 
processors, agribusinesses, integrators, and other 
buyers of agricultural commodities additional market 
power over farmers and suppliers in local markets. 
(13) Such related matters as the Commission 
determines to be important. 
SEC. 203. FINAL REPORT. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 12 months after 
the date of the initial meeting of the Commission, the 
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Commission shall submit to the President and Congress 
a final report which contains— 
(1) the findings and conclusions of the Commis-
sion described in section 202; and 
(2) recommendations for addressing the prob-
lems identified as part of the Commission’s analysis. 
(b) SEPARATE VIEWS.—Any member of the Commis-
sion may submit additional findings and recommendations 
as part of the final report. 
SEC. 204. POWERS OF COMMISSION. 
(a) HEARINGS.—The Commission may hold such 
hearings, sit and act at such times and places, take such 
testimony, and receive such evidence as the Commission 
may find advisable to fulfill the requirements of this title. 
The Commission shall hold at least one or more hearings 
in Washington, DC, and four in different agriculture re-
gions of the United States. 
(b) INFORMATION FROM FEDERAL AGENCIES.—The 
Commission may secure directly from any Federal depart-
ment or agency such information as the Commission con-
siders necessary to carry out the provisions of this title. 
Upon request of the Chairperson of the Commission, the 
head of such department or agency shall furnish such in-
formation to the Commission. 
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(c) POSTAL SERVICES.—The Commission may use 
the United States mails in the same manner and under 
the same conditions as other departments and agencies of 
the Federal Government. 
SEC. 205. COMMISSION PERSONNEL MATTERS. 
(a) COMPENSATION OF MEMBERS.—Each member of 
the Commission shall be compensated at a rate equal to 
the daily equivalent of the annual rate of basic pay pre-
scribed for level IV of the Executive Schedule under sec-
tion 5315 of title 5, United States Code, for each day (in-
cluding travel time) during which such member is engaged 
in the performance of the duties of the Commission. 
(b) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—The members of the Com-
mission shall be allowed travel expenses, including per 
diem in lieu of subsistence, at rates authorized for employ-
ees of agencies under subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 
5, United States Code, while away from their homes or 
regular places of business in the performance of services 
for the Commission. 
(c) STAFF.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—The Chairperson of the 
Commission may, without regard to the civil service 
laws and regulations, appoint and terminate an exec-
utive director and such other additional personnel as 
may be necessary to enable the Commission to per-
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form its duties. The employment of an executive di-
rector shall be subject to confirmation by the Com-
mission. 
(2) COMPENSATION.—The Chairperson of the 
Commission may fix the compensation of the execu-
tive director and other personnel without regard to 
the provisions of chapter 51 and subchapter III of 
chapter 53 of title 5, United States Code, relating 
to classification of positions and General Schedule 
pay rates, except that the rate of pay for the execu-
tive director and other personnel may not exceed the 
rate payable for level V of the Executive Schedule 
under section 5316 of such title. 
(d) DETAIL
OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES.—Any 
Federal Government employee shall be detailed to the 
Commission without reimbursement, and such detail shall 
be without interruption or loss of civil service status or 
privilege. 
(e) PROCUREMENT OF TEMPORARY AND INTERMIT-
TENT SERVICES.—The Chairperson of the Commission 
may procure temporary and intermittent services under 
section 3109(b) of title 5, United States Code, at rates 
for individuals which do not exceed the daily equivalent 
of the annual rate of basic pay prescribed for level V of 
the Executive Schedule under section 5316 of such title. 
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SEC. 206. SUPPORT SERVICES. 
The Administrator of the General Services Adminis-
tration shall provide to the Commission on a reimbursable 
basis such administrative support services as the Commis-
sion may request. 
SEC. 207. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 
There are authorized to be appropriated $2,000,000 
to the Commission as required by this title to carry out 
the provisions of this title. 
Æ 
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