Embarrassing Distortions Populists in the U.S. Congress are once again going after Big Ag, and as usual with faulty figures. Some are calling on the Federal trade Commission to investigate meat packing companies for increasing profits at the expense of consumers and workers. This attack repeats itself every few years and has consistently failed in every antitrust investigation. However, now the populists have drafted legislation that would impose a moratorium on all agribusiness mergers and acquisitions. Its authors claim that agribusiness firms have “driven family farmers and ranchers out of business.” USDA data shows that the decline in the number of family farms has been a decades-long trend and that the rate has actually sl...