Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley is reintroducing his legislation to ban packer ownership of livestock. He says the high levels of concentration in the meat industry, along with vertical integration, are leading to the loss of competitive and transparent markets.

He says number of cattle traded in the negotiated cash market has declined substantially since 2005.

Grassley says he’s reintroducing his measure even though he expects a tough fight for approval.

Grassley expects the biggest opposition to his legislation to come from the meatpacking industry where four packers control 76 percent of the cattle slaughter in the United States.