Four current and former executives at Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation and Claxton Poultry farms, both which produce chicken have been indicted for colluding to inflate the price of birds sold to grocery stores and restaurants. Iowa Farmers Union President Aaron Lehman says that’s very concerning that happened at a time when farmers and consumers are suffering from the impacts of the pandemic.

He says this incident highlights the need for better enforcement of antitrust laws.

Lehman says the Packers and Stockyards Administration must be reinstated in order to protect both producers and consumers.

In responding to the indictment, National Farmers Union President Rob Larew says price fixing is only a symptom of the much bigger problem of corporate consolidation, and companies are only able to employ anticompetitive business practices when they’ve gathered control over their respective industries.