GLA
Well-known member
JBS Swift Requires U .S. Feedlots to Waive Rights Under Packers & Stockyards Act
Billings, Mont. – In late April, JBS Swift began sending a one-year contract to U.S. feedlots regarding conditions for the sale of slaughter-ready cattle to JBS Swift. R-CALF USA believes this contract constitutes a contract of adhesion, as it extracts from producers a waiver of statutory rights in return for nothing more than access to the market.
"The fact that JBS Swift can cavalierly impose such a requirement on U.S. cattle feedlots itself demonstrates the tremendous market power presently enjoyed by JBS Swift – market power manifest by virtue of JBS Swift's dominant control over available slaughter capacity," wrote R-CALF USA CEO Bill Bullard in a letter sent Tuesday to the U.S. Department of Justice.
The letter included the organization's fourth submission to the Justice Department concerning the proposed JBS acquisitions of National Beef Packing Co., Smithfield Beef Group, and Five Rivers Ranch Cattle Feeding. Approval of the deal would make JBS the largest meatpacker in the U.S. and in the world.
According to the terms of the JBS Swift contract, feedlots must grant JBS Swift the right to withhold payment for "grade and yield" cattle for three days after the "final grade," and feedlot owners and managers must additionally waive any rights they have "under the trust provisions of Section 206 of the Packers and Stockyards Act, 1921, as amended (7 U.S.C. 106, Pub. L. 94-410)."
"This JBS Swift contract is evidence of R-CALF USA's contention that market power abuses are ongoing, and would likely worsen if the JBS mergers go through because those mergers would further elevate JBS Swift's dominance over available slaughter capacity, to the detriment of U.S. cattle producers," Bullard said.
"R-CALF USA is confident that this example, as well as information provided to the Justice Department previously, provides clear and convincing evidence that the JBS acquisitions must be blocked because approval would lessen competition and facilitate the exercise of market power in the U.S. cattle market," Bullard asserted.
Note: To view the JBS Swift feedlot contract and R-CALF USA's letter to the Justice Department, visit the "Competition Issues" link at www.r-calfusa.com , or contact R-CALF USA Communications Coordinator Shae Dodson to request a copy.
Billings, Mont. – In late April, JBS Swift began sending a one-year contract to U.S. feedlots regarding conditions for the sale of slaughter-ready cattle to JBS Swift. R-CALF USA believes this contract constitutes a contract of adhesion, as it extracts from producers a waiver of statutory rights in return for nothing more than access to the market.
"The fact that JBS Swift can cavalierly impose such a requirement on U.S. cattle feedlots itself demonstrates the tremendous market power presently enjoyed by JBS Swift – market power manifest by virtue of JBS Swift's dominant control over available slaughter capacity," wrote R-CALF USA CEO Bill Bullard in a letter sent Tuesday to the U.S. Department of Justice.
The letter included the organization's fourth submission to the Justice Department concerning the proposed JBS acquisitions of National Beef Packing Co., Smithfield Beef Group, and Five Rivers Ranch Cattle Feeding. Approval of the deal would make JBS the largest meatpacker in the U.S. and in the world.
According to the terms of the JBS Swift contract, feedlots must grant JBS Swift the right to withhold payment for "grade and yield" cattle for three days after the "final grade," and feedlot owners and managers must additionally waive any rights they have "under the trust provisions of Section 206 of the Packers and Stockyards Act, 1921, as amended (7 U.S.C. 106, Pub. L. 94-410)."
"This JBS Swift contract is evidence of R-CALF USA's contention that market power abuses are ongoing, and would likely worsen if the JBS mergers go through because those mergers would further elevate JBS Swift's dominance over available slaughter capacity, to the detriment of U.S. cattle producers," Bullard said.
"R-CALF USA is confident that this example, as well as information provided to the Justice Department previously, provides clear and convincing evidence that the JBS acquisitions must be blocked because approval would lessen competition and facilitate the exercise of market power in the U.S. cattle market," Bullard asserted.
Note: To view the JBS Swift feedlot contract and R-CALF USA's letter to the Justice Department, visit the "Competition Issues" link at www.r-calfusa.com , or contact R-CALF USA Communications Coordinator Shae Dodson to request a copy.