The Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, in conjunction with U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins, announced earlier this week that the U.S. Department of Justice has began antitrust investigations into the meatpacking industry. During a press event, Acting AG Blanche highlighted the ongoing work that has been done to address the price of pork, chicken, turkey, and beef.
Secretary Rollins provided comments on the current state of the meatpacking industry, saying, “JBS, a Brazilian-owned company, Cargill, Tyson Foods, and National Beef, another Brazilian company. Those four companies monopolize about 85% of the U.S. processing market today, but it hasn’t always been that way. The rate of this four-firm control has accelerated since the 1970s. According to USDA data, concentration for cattle slaughter of these four was only 25% in 1977 and jumped to 71% by 1992.”
“As mentioned today, it is an astounding 85%. Notably, these four firms now own together more than 70 subsidiary companies today. They don’t own them together, but in total, there are 70 subsidiary companies that are owned by these four. This has led to a frightening landscape for cattle ranchers. Industry consolidation reduces options for our ranchers looking to sell their cattle. It weakens their negotiating power, and it risks reliance upon a single buyer. Today, the concentration of larger plants opens the door to tighter coordination by the big four with producers and perhaps the exertion of control over them as well, giving they have limited options to sell their cattle,” said Rollins.
Acting AG Blanche stated that a settlement announcement will be coming soon that will impact the price of pork, chicken and turkey.
Audio Reporting by Dale Sandlin for Southeast AgNet.