The American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) sent a letter earlier this month to Attorney General Merrick Garland, asking the Department of Justice to provide an update on its investigation into the meatpacking industry.
“With over 80% of the fed cattle market controlled by only four major packing companies, we are concerned about the control these firms have,” AFBF President Zippy Duvall wrote. “With unprecedented volatility in the cattle markets in 2020 stemming from the Tyson plant fire in Holcomb, Kansas, we seek a written update on the department’s investigation surrounding the role the major packing companies played surrounding this volatility.”
Packers faced heightened scrutiny amid the COVID-19 pandemic as shutdowns rocked the industry. The pandemic came on the heels of a fire at a Tyson Foods facility in 2019, which closed operations for several months and impacted live cattle and wholesale beef prices in a similar manner.
After plant shutdowns across the nation and a record increase in the boxed beef cutout in 2020, a bipartisan group of attorneys general wrote to the DOJ to investigate “potential anticompetitive practices by the meat packers in the cattle industry.”
The Department of Justice began the investigation and issued civil investigative demands, similar to subpoenas, to the “Big Four” packers—Tyson Foods Inc., JBS SA, Cargill Inc. and National Beef Inc.
“While we understand the COVID-19 pandemic caused supply chain and labor issues within the meatpacking sector, the volatility in the markets during this time caused extreme uncertainty for our country’s cattle producers,” Duvall wrote. “We look forward to hearing from the Department of Justice regarding their investigation, so we can update Farm Bureau members and assure them that adequate government oversight is being conducted in the nation’s cattle markets, and that the markets remain fair for businesses, farmers and all American families.”
Read the full letter here.