The South Dakota Farmers Union is saying it helped secure a win for U.S. Cattle Producers in a settlement with one of the nation’s largest meat-packing companies.
JBS must pay over $83 million to settle allegations it conspired with other companies to inflate beef prices.
One of the big things that led many producers to be skeptical were grocery store prices for meat.
The South Dakota Farmers Union said that grocery prices remained significantly high, but the prices that cattle producers were receiving were low. That signaled a red flag for many producers in the state.
Doug Sombke is the president of the South Dakota Farmers Union. He said the price differences weren’t the only red flag that led to the suit.
“A lot of the buyers in the sale barns were colluding together. They would even ride in the same vehicle together to go to the sale barns. You know, different side things were done. For instance, after, I know one person told me he witnessed a guy when he had an extra load that he didn’t really need. He was willing to just share it with one of the other buyers, so there was no bidding process. I mean, they made a deal outside of the actual purchasing of the livestock,” Sombke said.
Despite this settlement, the fight is still not over. Claims against Tyson, Cargill and National Beef are still being fought in court.
Sombke said that the settlement with JBS may help with those other three as well.
“From the settlement if there is any evidence of phone calls, or emails, or voicemails, or anything between the big four talking to each other that JBS may have on file, that can now be used in court. That’s part of the settlement. We’ll be used that information in the lawsuit of the other three,” Sombke said.
Sombke said one of the important things in receiving money from the settlement is that none of the information can be shared publicly. He said that’s a key piece because no cattle producers can face retaliation from any of the packing companies.
In a statement, JBS called claims it conspired with other meat packers “frivolous,” saying they settled because it was in the best interest of the company.
