If they all agreed there is only so much cattle out there and all implicitly agreed to not pay as much, they could lower the price by not actively bidding on the supply.  Competition is not necessarily a given, especially when there is this much industry concentration.  OCM stated that in his experience they do not actively bid against each other and know what the others are paying for the cattle.  Why do you think competition is a given Jason?  Do you have any proof of this or at least as much proof as OCM has brought to the forum?