{"license":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/","dataset":"reports","count":2,"filters":{"source":"usda-ers-meatpacking-2024","sourceMatched":true,"sourceId":"usda-ers-meatpacking-2024","sourceTitle":"Concentration in U.S. Meatpacking Industry and How It Affects Competition and Cattle Prices","sourcePublisher":"U.S. Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service","sourceProfileHref":"/sources/usda-ers-meatpacking-2024"},"rows":[{"id":"rep-us-competition-landscape-2026","slug":"us-competition-landscape-2026","title":"The U.S. Competition Landscape","subtitle":"State of Competition 2026: five evidence systems, no single score","summary":"A national briefing that aligns defined-market signals, industry structure, state and local geographic concentration screens, merger activity, and enforcement records without collapsing their different scopes.","body":"Public evidence does not support a single national competition score. The clearest picture comes from five bounded systems. Among eight curated markets, four current profiles publish highly concentrated readings while four withhold HHI because public shares are incomplete or aggregate. The 2022 Economic Census publishes revenue-based HHI for 679 of 899 detailed six-digit industries, with a median of 284 among published rows; strict 2017-2022 comparisons remain a separate history lens. KFF's 2024 individual-market data place median state HHI at 3,414 and 36 of 51 jurisdictions above 2,500. A separately bounded 2025 FDIC screen places median statewide branch-deposit HHI at 903, with 5 of 51 jurisdictions above 2,500. A deeper FDIC layer publishes 3,104 county and county-equivalent branch-deposit screens with a median HHI of 2,826; 1,792 exceed 2,500 and 187 contain one reported organization. Banking markets are often local, but county boundaries may not match them, so both FDIC layers remain screens rather than legal market definitions. USDA's historical national beef-packer CR4 adds a buyer-side concentration anchor while remaining distinct from individual packer shares, regional cattle procurement markets, and the related Census slaughtering-industry revenue screen. The FY2025 HSR report records 2,006 reported transactions and a 2.1% Second Request rate among adjusted transactions. Dated enforcement records add procedure and institutional context, not causal proof. Read together, these systems identify where scrutiny and public disclosure are most valuable. Read as one composite, they would erase market definition, geography, vintage, and legal meaning. This report therefore presents a national competition landscape with explicit handoffs to the underlying markets, industries, state and local screens, merger series, policy records, and source dossiers.","coverImageUrl":"/generated-assets/report-cover-us-competition-landscape.png","publishedAt":"2026-07-19","relatedMarketIds":["mkt-wireless","mkt-airlines","mkt-housing","mkt-search","mkt-browser","mkt-pbm","mkt-ai-chatbot","mkt-meatpacking"],"sourceIds":["fcc-2024-cmr","bts-transtats-2026","jchs-rental-housing-2026","statcounter-search-us-2026","statcounter-browser-us-2026","ftc-pbm-interim-2024","statcounter-ai-chatbot-us-2026","usda-ers-meatpacking-2024","census-ecnsize-concentration-2022","census-ecnsize-concentration-2017","kff-individual-insurance-market-2024","fdic-sod-2025","ftc-doj-hsr-report-2025","doj-google-search-case-2020"],"sourceBasis":"2022 and 2017 U.S. Economic Census industry concentration tables, USDA ERS historical meatpacking CR4, KFF 2024 state individual-market HHI, FDIC 2025 statewide and county Summary of Deposits screens, the FY2025 FTC/DOJ HSR report, and source-backed market and enforcement records.","tableOfContents":["Executive synthesis","Defined market signals","Industry structure","Geographic concentration","Merger pipeline","Enforcement record","Public evidence agenda"],"preview":"A source-backed state-of-competition briefing across markets, industries, state systems, local banking screens, mergers, and enforcement, with every system kept in its own analytical universe.","publicationType":"state_of_competition","seriesTitle":"State of Competition","seriesNumber":"AR-SC-2026-01","authorName":"Antitrust Radar Research Team","version":"1.0","updatedAt":"2026-07-19","publicationStatus":"current","revisionNote":"Initial public edition.","canonicalCitation":"Antitrust Radar Research Team. (2026, July 19). The U.S. Competition Landscape: State of Competition 2026: five evidence systems, no single score. State of Competition, AR-SC-2026-01 (Version 1.0). Antitrust Radar. https://antitrustradar.org/reports/us-competition-landscape-2026","citationDownloads":{"bibtex":"/reports/us-competition-landscape-2026/citation/bibtex","ris":"/reports/us-competition-landscape-2026/citation/ris"},"sourceProfileHrefs":["/sources/fcc-2024-cmr","/sources/bts-transtats-2026","/sources/jchs-rental-housing-2026","/sources/statcounter-search-us-2026","/sources/statcounter-browser-us-2026","/sources/ftc-pbm-interim-2024","/sources/statcounter-ai-chatbot-us-2026","/sources/usda-ers-meatpacking-2024","/sources/census-ecnsize-concentration-2022","/sources/census-ecnsize-concentration-2017","/sources/kff-individual-insurance-market-2024","/sources/fdic-sod-2025","/sources/ftc-doj-hsr-report-2025","/sources/doj-google-search-case-2020"]},{"id":"rep-meatpacking-buyer-power","slug":"meatpacking-buyer-power","title":"Beef Meatpacking Buyer Power","subtitle":"Why an 85% procurement CR4 is not the same as an industry HHI","summary":"A source-backed briefing on national beef-packer buyer concentration, the related Census slaughtering-industry screen, and the market boundaries neither metric can establish.","body":"USDA Economic Research Service reports that the four largest beef packers handled 36 percent of U.S. steer and heifer purchases in 1980, 81 percent in 1995, and 85 percent by 2019. That national buyer-side CR4 documents a major structural shift, but it does not reveal individual packer shares or the regional procurement choices facing a particular rancher. The related 2022 Economic Census screen for NAICS 311611, Animal (except poultry) slaughtering, reports revenue HHI 1,250.7 and CR4 66.0, compared with HHI 1,174.8 and CR4 63.4 in 2017. The Census revenue screen and USDA procurement CR4 use different denominators and answer different questions, so Antitrust Radar keeps them linked but never combines them into one score. Stronger public evidence would publish individual packer purchase shares and reproducible regional procurement tables while retaining capacity, entry, cost, cattle-price, and wholesale-spread context.","coverImageUrl":null,"publishedAt":"2026-07-19","relatedMarketIds":["mkt-meatpacking"],"sourceIds":["usda-ers-meatpacking-2024","census-ecnsize-concentration-2022","census-ecnsize-concentration-2017"],"sourceBasis":"USDA ERS historical national CR4 for steer and heifer purchases, paired with separately bounded 2017 and 2022 Economic Census revenue concentration rows for NAICS 311611.","tableOfContents":["Buyer-side concentration","Historical shift","Related industry screen","Why the metrics differ","Public data agenda"],"preview":"Explains what the national beef-packer CR4 reveals, why HHI remains withheld, and how the related Census industry screen should be used without redefining a cattle procurement market.","publicationType":"research_brief","seriesTitle":"Competition Research Briefs","seriesNumber":"AR-RB-2026-01","authorName":"Antitrust Radar Research Team","version":"1.0","updatedAt":"2026-07-19","publicationStatus":"current","revisionNote":"Initial public edition.","canonicalCitation":"Antitrust Radar Research Team. (2026, July 19). Beef Meatpacking Buyer Power: Why an 85% procurement CR4 is not the same as an industry HHI. Competition Research Briefs, AR-RB-2026-01 (Version 1.0). Antitrust Radar. https://antitrustradar.org/reports/meatpacking-buyer-power","citationDownloads":{"bibtex":"/reports/meatpacking-buyer-power/citation/bibtex","ris":"/reports/meatpacking-buyer-power/citation/ris"},"sourceProfileHrefs":["/sources/usda-ers-meatpacking-2024","/sources/census-ecnsize-concentration-2022","/sources/census-ecnsize-concentration-2017"]}]}