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 said 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, said 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 said. “It’s time to put an end to these price-fixing schemes by the Big Four once and for all.”

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