> the courts threw out a consent decree going back to the 1920s that blocked packers from engaging in a variety of anti-competitive practices, such as owning their own feed lots.<p>Interesting. I've spoken to the owner of a small slaughterhouse (last year), and they were looking for others to run <i>more</i> feedlot for them then; being firmly of the opinion they couldn't legally do it themselves. I wonder if the rules apply more to smaller places.
Headline seems to be clickbait. I haven't read the full 180 page report, but having searched it and read the summary, "emotion" appears twice and not in the context of the feelings of ranchers about monopolies. It seems to mainly be about a list of proposed solutions to the problem and their unintended consequences. Author seems to like some of the proposed interventions so I guess he's mad at the authors.