According to the USDA’s 2022 Food Price Outlook, foods purchased at grocery stores are predicted to increase up to eleven percent, and restaurant prices are predicted toup to seven percent. In 2023, grocery store prices are predicted to increase between two and three percent, and restaurant prices are predicted to increase between three and four percent.

KCII spoke with Iowa Senator Charles Grassley about actions he is taking to try and address these rising costs. “My cattle bill would make it easier for the Iowa Cattlemen or anybody that wants to negotiate a cash price because right now it’s hard to do so because of the monopoly of the four big packers and their relationship with the big feed lots of Texas and Kansas.”

The Cattle Price Discovery and Transparency Act and the Meat Packing Special Investigator Act are the bills that Senator Grassley introduced. Both advanced through the Senate Agriculture Committee in June with bipartisan support.