Tyson Foods' near-monopoly in Arkansas is analyzed

Arkansas broiler production has risen as farm numbers have dropped. (Union of Concerned Scientists graph)

Cattle, hog and chicken farmers have long complained about the outsized power of major meat processors. An in-depth new multimedia report from the Union of Concerned Scientists illustrates such complaints, showing how Tyson Foods in Arkansas affects farmers, workers and communities.

"Chicken farmers are paid through a complex and competitive contract system that gives Tyson immense power over their operations. As this system has developed over the past several decades, thousands of farms have gone out of business or been forced to consolidate," Rebecca Boehm reports. "Meanwhile, Tyson’s processing plants endanger their workers and outsource the management of billions of pounds of chicken waste, some of which contaminates waterways and threatens public health, particularly in Arkansas’s Hispanic and Native American communities."

The report traces the company's history and how lobbying state politicians helped it win tax breaks. Today, it's the third-largest employer statewide and operates nearly half the slaughterhouses and processing plants in the state. That's no small thing, since Arkansas has the most such plants of any state in the nation, the most meat-chicken contract farms, and third-most total broiler sales from farms.

As Tyson grew more powerful, slaughtering and processing power in the state grew more concentrated, causing significant changes in the agricultural sector. "Arkansas has lost nearly 50 percent of its broiler farmers since 1978, and its broiler farms are larger than ever before," Boehm reports.

The analysis digs into how federal and state laws helped Tyson achieve a near-monopoly in the state, and how lobbyists influenced the Trump administration during the early days of the pandemic to its benefit. It concludes: "Equitable, science-based federal and state policies are needed to curb Tyson’s power, return fairness to the industry, protect workers, and ensure clean air and water for communities."