Kirk, I have no idea what beef prices are these days since we got out of the cattle business but meat packers squeezing both ends is nothing new and I agree with you, they should get jailed.
Bamby is right, once you send your cows to auction, you have no control over the price. For the longest time we dealt with a private buyer who paid a fair price.
We were lucky. When we dealt with the packing plant directly it was a local, family owned concern who'd been in business for 60 years. Dan, the owner, passed away a few years back but it is still nominally owned by his wife although the kids and grandkids run the place. When you buy meat retail from them you are going to pay a dollar or two more than at the grocery store but the difference in quality is more than worth it.