Anticompetitive concerns addressed during House Ag cattle market hearing

The cattle industry continues to wait for the results of a Department of Justice investigation examining anticompetitive behavior among meatpackers. 

House Ag Committee Chairman David Scott took the opportunity to question the heads of the four largest meatpacking companies during the Committee’s hearing on Wednesday.  “Is there, or was there, ever an agreement between your four companies to cooperate together on issues impacting supply or pricing,” he asked. 

And under oath, the CEOs of Tyson Foods, Cargill, National Beef, and JBS responded.  “No.  No.  No.  Not that I’m aware of.”

Ethan Lane, CEO of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association says this is an issue that has spanned two administrations and the industry is still waiting for an answer.  “We would certainly like to hear from DOJ what they have or have not found,” he says.  “So we can figure out what to do with that and move forward good, bad, or otherwise.  But, I certainly think it continues to add to the information we have of what may or may not be occurring in the supply chain.”

Lane says the point was made several times during Wednesday’s hearing that processors haven’t had to collude in recent years because they’ve had an ultimate buyers’ market. 

The Department of Justice launched its investigation into the American meatpacking sector in 2020. 

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