The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association is upset with a court settlement reached by JBS as part of a class-action lawsuit against the four biggest meatpackers in the U.S.
DTN says the court case and the $52.5 million settlement involves price-fixing and the four meatpackers constraining the fed cattle supply.
The NCBA wants to find out what happened to the industry’s demands for a federal investigation into beef markets going back to 2019. They’re looking for more transparency from the Justice Department.
Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley, a co-author of the Cattle Price Discovery and Transparency Act, says the settlement is a “spit in the ocean” for JBS compared to its record profits during COVID-19.
“The settlement confirms what cattle producers have been telling me when they try to get a fair price in the marketplace,” Grassley says. “It’s time to put an end to these price-fixing schemes by the Big Four once and for all.”
