Meat packers

The nation's largest meatpacking company, JBS USA Food Company, will pay $4 million as part of a settlement with the U.S. Department of Labor, in connection with the company's use of child labor at meatpacking plants across the country.  DOL said last week the funds would be used to "prevent illegal child labor" and support victims of child labor nationwide while prioritizing those effor

Local meat processing plants across the county will work to expand capacity, and improve efficiencies thanks to recent investments via the USDA.   “USDA's local meat capacity grant program, or we call it local MCap," said Department of Ag’s Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs Jenny Moffitt.  "It provides targeted pr...

With so many commodities struggling right now, it’s nice to hear about sectors of the farming industry that are doing well.  University of Idaho Associate Professor of Meat Science Phill Bass said beef demand is very strong domestically and internationally, which means many producers are making money.  However, whil...

Washington State University Extension and the state Department of Agriculture will hold workshops targeted to small to medium sized meat producers or processors who sell to local consumers.  WSU Extension Meat Science experts and WSDA Regional Markets Program staff will hold a trio of interactive butchery sessions in the WA Meat up mobile butchery classroom.  In addi...

For years USDA has published data on base and net prices for cattle transactions, but there hasn’t been a lot of information in between; until now.  Taylor Cox with USDA's Ag Marketing Service said the new online Cattle Contracts Library Pilot Program is up and running, giving contract information on more than just the base and net prices Packers are offering.  And Cox noted...

Many in the Northwest beef industry, not just southern Idaho, are eagerly awaiting the opening of True West Beef’s over 250,000 square foot packing facility outside of Jerome.  Cameron Mulroy, Executive Vice President of Idaho Cattle said many of the ranchers with whom he’s talked, are optimistic to have such as state of the art plant so close to home.   “Putting whe...

Senators Jon Tester, Chuck Grassley, and Mike Rounds recently reintroduced their Meat Packing Special Investigator Act, which they say is an effort to fight consolidation and enforce the national anti-trust laws.  The bill would create the “Office of the Special Investigator for Competition Matters” within the USDA.  The office would be...

On Wednesday, the Senate Ag Committee passed the Cattle Price Discovery Act, which prepares the legislation for a full Senate vote.  Todd Nash, President of the Oregon Cattlemen’s Association said they recognize there is a problem in the industry, but he’s not sure if this legislation is the right fix.  He agreed that...

Plans are in development to construct a $1.1 Billion next-generation livestock processing facility in western South Dakota. The one-million-square-foot facility will process beef and include a specialty bison line. Kingsbury and Associates and Sirius Realty of Rapid City, South Dakota, are currently in the research and development phase of the project ...

Earlier this week, several senators introduced an updated version of the Cattle Price Discovery and Transparency Act. Senators Ron Wyden of Oregon, Jon Tester of Montana, Deb Fischer of Nebraska and Iowa’s Chuck Grassley unveiled the update to the legislation first introduced in November. The ...