U.S. Sens. John Thune (R-S.D.), a longtime member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, and Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) today joined Sen. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.) and 16 of their Senate colleagues in writing a letter to the U.S. Department of Justice requesting that the department investigate potential anticompetitive activities in the highly concentrated beef packing sector.
“The lack of competition in the meatpacking industry has resulted in a vulnerable beef supply chain, which the current national emergency has destabilized further,” the senators wrote. “Recent pricing discrepancies between fed cattle and boxed beef are pushing cattle producers and feeders to the brink, adding to the longstanding concerns stemming from the state of competition among beef packers. Since February, we have seen live cattle prices slump by more than 18 percent, while wholesale beef prices have increased by as much as 115 percent during the same period.”
Along with Thune, Rounds, and Fischer, the letter was also signed by Sens. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Kevin Cramer, (R-N.D.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), Doug Jones (D-Ala.), Martha McSally (R-Ariz.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Ben Sasse (R-Neb.), and Tina Smith (D-Minn.).
