To restore competition in the meatpacking industry by reducing excessive concentration and market power and ultimately reduce prices for American consumers, and for other purposes.
About This Bill
Committee
Latest Action · July 16, 2026
Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committees on Energy and Commerce, Small Business, and Agriculture, 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.
The Family Grocery and Farmer Relief Act targets the highly consolidated beef meatpacking industry, where four companies currently control 85 percent of the market, by establishing automatic requirements for the Federal Trade Commission to force large meatpacking companies to break up or sell off operations if they exceed certain market concentration thresholds either regionally or nationally. The bill also directs the FTC to study foreign-controlled meatpacking operations within 180 days and potentially order divestitures to protect competition and national security, subject to congressional review. To enforce these requirements, the legislation imposes significant penalties on companies that fail to divest, including civil fines of 10 percent of revenue or triple damages for knowing violations, with penalty funds directed to help new competitors enter the market. The FTC must issue enforcement rules within 90 days that define beef processing markets, set divestiture standards, and prioritize small businesses and farmers' cooperatives as preferred buyers of divested assets. If the FTC misses the 90-day deadline for issuing rules, the divestiture requirements take effect automatically anyway.
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