Family ranchers fighting meatpacking industry, which is dominating beef production

MOVILLE, Iowa (AP) - Eric Nelson, a fourth-generation rancher and farmer who operates a feedlot, is not looking for more government cash. He just wants a little help from the Senate when it debates a farm bill this fall. 

Nelson and many other family ranchers in the Midwest and West are hoping Congress can help them fight the gradual consolidation of the meat industry, which they say is hurting their business. A handful of large meatpacking companies slaughtered 80 percent of steers and heifers in 2005, up 30 percent from 20 years ago.