Iowa legislation · 91st General Assembly
Iowa HF2734: A BILL FOR An Act providing for the processing and marketing of meat and poultry products, including by prohibiting vertical integration, providing for a health and safety program, and providing for the divestiture of interests in processors by certain retailers, and providing penalties
Status: In committee, March 9, 2026
An Act providing for the processing and marketing of meat and poultry products, including by prohibiting vertical integration, providing for a health and safety program, and providing for the divestiture of interests in processors by certain retailers, and providing penalties.
What the bill says
A bill FOR An Act providing for the processing and marketing of meat and poultry products, including by prohibiting vertical integration, providing for a health and safety program, and providing for the divestiture of interests in processors by certain retailers, and providing penalties.
From the introduced text, March 9, 2026:
A BILL FOR An Act providing for the processing and marketing of meat and poultry products, including by prohibiting vertical integration, providing for a health and safety program, and providing for the divestiture of interests in processors by certain retailers, and providing penalties. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: TLSB 6664YH (5) da/js H.F. 2734 Section 1. NEW SECTION. 202D.1 Title. This chapter be shall be known and may be cited as the "Retailer-Processor Fairness Act". Sec. 2. NEW SECTION. 202D.2 Findings and declaration. 1. The general assembly finds all of the following: a. Concentration in the meat industry has materially impaired competition, eroding the bargaining power of Iowa farmers, independent processors, and workers, while foreclosing market access through captive supply arrangements, vertical integration, and dominant retailer ownership of meat processing facilities. b. The entry of national retailers with substantial market share into the direct ownership of meat processing creates structural competitive disadvantages for independent Iowa farmers, independent processors, and grocers that existing market mechanisms have failed to remedy. c. Federal law, as evidenced by the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890, 15 U.S.C. §1 et seq., the Clayton Antitrust Act of 1914, 15 U.S.C. §12 et seq., and the Packers and Stockyards Act of 1921, 7 U.S.C. §181 et seq., reflect more than a …