MT ranchers monitoring DOJ meatpacking probe

MISSOULA, Mont. — The Department of Justice had been investigating the "big four" meatpacking companies. The allegations center on Tyson, JBS, Cargill and the National Beef Packing Company using their combined 85 percent market share to fix prices and pressure ranchers.

Eric Belasco, head of the Department of Agricultural Economics and Economics at Montana State University, said a full review could give ranchers more confidence in the market.

"Are they just coming up with a price that's kind of leaning on their end? Transparency around this investigation would be helpful because I think ranchers do need to have confidence that, when they when they're selling in this market, they're getting a fair price for their products," he said.

The Montana Farmers Union had also been in civil litigation with the "big four" over the same concerns tied to the federal investigation. Union President Walter Schweitzer said the main issue was a lack of transparency.

"Most of our cattle are sold with secret contracts that are made between the packers and the corporate feeders. And these secret contracts, we don't know what day the price [is] for," he said.

The union had responded to these market conditions by sponsoring local meat processing co-ops.

Belasco said smaller processors face a cost challenge because large companies can operate at much lower costs. He said local operations may need to find other ways to compete.

"They're just operating at such a low-cost relative to a smaller plant. And so, you've got to figure out ways, maybe it's adding premium new products, something like that, where you can kind of make up that difference in the costs," he said.

Schweitzer said he expected more news on the Justice Department investigation in the coming weeks.