North Dakota Attorney General: JBS Acquisitions Will Lessen Competition

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Billings, Mont. – R-CALF USA was pleased to learn that North Dakota Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem has joined several other attorneys general in writing to the U.S. Department of Justice to voice concerns over the proposed JBS acquisitions of National Beef Packing Co., Smithfield Beef Group, and Five Rivers Ranch Cattle Feeding, the largest operator of feedlots in the United States, and how the mergers would “lessen competition to the detriment of many of the groups involved in the industry, including consumers.”

Several R-CALF USA members from North Dakota took time to contact Stenehjem with their concerns, two of whom were Link Reinhiller and Patrick Becker.

“I wouldn’t have felt right if I didn’t make the phone call (to Stenehjem),” said Reinhiller, an R-CALF USA member since its inception in 1998. “It’s important that cattle producers everywhere contact their state attorneys general and ask them to assist us in opposing these JBS mergers, and if the attorneys general have already opposed it, we need to ask them to make sure they keep the lines of communication open with the Justice Department. We also should each ask our attorney general to take the lead in contacting and informing their fellow attorneys general about this situation.

“It’s also probably a good idea to ask our attorneys general to ask their respective state agriculture commissioners to get involved with this issue, as these folks usually have a very good relationship with hands-on, grassroots producers,” Reinhiller continued. “These producers can feel the dollars slipping away right now, not months from now.”

“I feel this JBS deal just adds more concentration to the market, giving independent cattle producers less chance of marketing our animals,” Becker said. “With JBS already buying Swift, and now trying to buy these other two packers, as well as the largest feedlot in the U.S., it doesn’t bode well for our industry.”

Stenehjem’s letter states in part: “…I urge you to carefully evaluate both the expected and possible consequences the merger may have on the entire beef industry and, as a result, on consumers, including all direct and indirect impacts…A major concern is the proposed merger’s negative effect on competition in the market. A reduction from five major buyers to three major buyers likely will significantly reduce competition…I ask you to not allow this process to be hurried through the system without a careful consideration of the expected negative impacts on competition in the industry and the impacts on all the different levels of the industry, including the packers, feeders, ranchers, and consumers.

Note: To view Stenehjem’s letter in its entirety, visit the “Competition Issues” link at www.r-calfusa.com .