- Defs
- 1
- Obs
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- Firms
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- Policy
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- Reports
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Public source dossierAgency reportU.S. Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service
Concentration in U.S. Meatpacking Industry and How It Affects Competition and Cattle Prices
Official USDA analysis of historical buyer concentration plant scale cattle prices capacity and entry in U.S. meatpacking.
This dossier follows one source through the observatory without widening its stated scope.
Evidence topology
Where this source enters the observatory
4/7 direct domains · 3 normalized indicators · 1 market · 1980-2026Encoded row volume · log scaleExact counts shown
Public sourceConcentration in U.S. Meatpacking Industry and How It Affects Competition and Cattle PricesU.S. Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service / 5 active routes / 1980-2026
- Record identityusda-ers-meatpacking-2024MacDonald, James M., 2024
- Source classAgency reportAccessed Jul 19, 2026
- Encoded scope5 active routes9 direct / 3 indicator rows
- Permitted inferenceTrace + reproduceNo automatic endorsement or comparability
Evidence topology
Where this record enters the observatory
Definitions1market definitionsObservations3market observationsParticipants3participant rowsPolicy records0Not encodedReports2public reportsIndustries0Not encodedGeographies0Not encodedIndicators3normalized indicator observations / normalized route
A zero means this source has no encoded row in that evidence domain. It is a boundary in the current observatory release, not a claim that the underlying institution publishes no relevant evidence. Indicator observations are shown as a separate normalized route and are not added to direct-domain totals.
Market context
Markets reached by this source
Measurement releases
Definitions, observations, and participant rows
- Product boundary
- Purchases of steers and heifers by beef packers
- Geographic boundary
- United States, while cattle procurement often occurs in regional markets
- Measurement basis
- USDA-reported share of steer and heifer purchases handled by the four largest beef packers
- Denominator
- All U.S. steer and heifer purchases represented in the USDA historical CR4 series
Observation
HHI Not published / incomplete
No market-size total / high confidence
Participants
Observation
HHI Not published / incomplete
No market-size total / high confidence
Participants
Observation
HHI Not published / incomplete
No market-size total / high confidence
Participants
Confidence labels describe the observatory's use of linked measurement and definition rows. They are not grades for the publisher or the source as a whole.
Official record chronology
Policy records backed by this source
No official policy record encoded
This source is not currently attached to an enforcement, inquiry, remedy, settlement, or agency-report event in the public chronology.
Research reuse
Public reports citing this record
Published report
Jul 19, 2026
Beef Meatpacking Buyer Power
Read reportA source-backed briefing on national beef-packer buyer concentration, the related Census slaughtering-industry screen, and the market boundaries neither metric can establish.
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.
Published report
Jul 19, 2026
The U.S. Competition Landscape
Read reportA 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.
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.
Industry observatory
NAICS concentration evidence
No NAICS industry rows encoded
This source does not back the Census national industry-concentration tables in the current release. Its other evidence-domain counts remain independently inspectable.
Citation custody
The record behind the rows
MacDonald, James M., Concentration in U.S. Meatpacking Industry and How It Affects Competition and Cattle Prices, U.S. Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service, January 25 2024.
Official USDA analysis of historical buyer concentration plant scale cattle prices capacity and entry in U.S. meatpacking.
Canonical source citation
MacDonald, James M., Concentration in U.S. Meatpacking Industry and How It Affects Competition and Cattle Prices, U.S. Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service, January 25 2024. Available at https://www.ers.usda.gov/amber-waves/2024/january/concentration-in-u-s-meatpacking-industry-and-how-it-affects-competition-and-cattle-prices. Accessed Jul 19, 2026. Antitrust Radar source record usda-ers-meatpacking-2024: https://antitrustradar.org/sources/usda-ers-meatpacking-2024
- Publisher
- U.S. Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service
- Access date
- Jul 19, 2026
- License note
- Public federal government analysis
- Archive
- No archive URL recorded
Source-scoped data packet
Reusable public endpoints
1
Source record
Citation, publisher, access, and license
1
Definitions
Product, geography, denominator, and limits
3
Observations
HHI, market size, status, and methodology
3
Participants
Firm shares, rank, aggregate flags, and custody
0
Official records
Dated enforcement and policy chronology
0
Named edges
Exact organization roles in official records
0
Event windows
Bounded pre, event-year, and post HHI context
3
Indicator observations
Bounded measures carrying this source's custody
2
Reports
Published observatory work citing this source
Interpretation boundary
Use the source at its encoded scope
A source dossier documents how this observatory uses one public record. It does not endorse every claim in that record, make unlike measures comparable, or extend the source beyond its stated product, geography, population, and vintage.