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State Attorneys General urge DOJ meat industry investigation
State Attorneys General from Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska and South Dakota have joined those in six other states urging the U.S. Justice Department to open an investigation into antitrust concerns in the beef processing industry.
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt says natural competition is essential to the health of the beef industry and the Department of Justice should look into possible instances of anticompetitive behavior in U.S. beef markets.
The letter says cattle producers and ranchers are being squeezed as the highly concentrated industry has meat packers making sizeable profit margins. The attorneys general say the COVID-19 pandemic has made problems even worse for cattle producers – another reason for “conducting a careful inquiry” into the beef industry.
