A group of senators in calling for an inquiry and anti-trust action because cattle prices have declined while retail beef prices have soared.
And R-CALF (Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund) wants the industry restructured so it’s more spread out across the nation.
R-CALF USA sent letters to U.S. President Dohald Trump and House of Represenatives and Senate leaders to conduct a review the beef supply chain and consider “whether a physical and geographical restructuring of the meatpacking industry is required to disaggregate and decentralize beef processing capacity.
R-CALF said the situation reveals “that the United States must immediately begin the development of a strategic, national food production, processing and distribution policy that can meet America's food security interests.”
The day before the letter was sent, Trump used the Defence Act to order meat-packing plants to keep operating.
According to the United States Department of Agriculture, the meat-packing industry has been reduced to about 60 per cent of normal capacity.
