Livestock farmers say allegations against the meatpacking industry for unfair business practices are beginning to pick up steam at the national level.
Producers have been asking for accountability on the four major meatpackers —Tyson, Cargill, JBS and National Beef — for decades. The issue comes in primarily at the price points producers were getting.
The South Dakota Farmers Union claims, “grocery store meat counter prices remained high while the prices [producers] received for weaned and finished cattle remained low.”
While claims are still in court on the other three, JBS agreed to an $83.5 million settlement with producers over claims it conspired with the other three to inflate beef prices. However, the company disregarded the claims and said it only agreed because it was in the best interest of the company.
Some farmers and producers had the chance to meet with the Department of Justice over potential antitrust law issues in agriculture. One of those was Bryan Bunker, a custom grazer in Reliance.
“They are well aware of the antitrust issues with the packers, the big four, and also the rights to repair with some of the big equipment companies on how the software is being withheld from regular guys being able to work on their equipment," Bunker said. "And then they also talked about the grain, the fertilizer. I mean they addressed the fertilizer companies and the seed companies. They are all in that same area as kind of the same four, that there’s limited competition.”
Bunker says there are still investigations going on into potential misconduct – so the DOJ didn’t speak on too many specifics. However, he says they told producers to consider the bigger picture of the issue.
“The biggest thing they said is well, say I get a dollar and Joe got two dollars, and it’s kind of a wash on that, they need us to step back and look at it as a whole and not just as ourselves," Bunker said. "How is it affecting everyone? Because they said it has a bigger impact when you look at how it affects all of the producers.”
He said it’s a good call to action for the livestock industry.
"We need to actually step up and join together," Bunker said. "We need to unite on a good home front.”
Tips can be submitted to the department on the DOJ website and the USDA’s website. The Department of Justice announced a Whistleblower Rewards Program in July to reward individuals who report antitrust crimes in industries like agriculture.
