• If you are having problems logging in please use the Contact Us in the lower right hand corner of the forum page for assistance.

Oklahoma Atty. Gen on JBS

Sandhusker

Well-known member
By John Greiner
Capitol Bureau
A proposed purchase of two American meat companies by a Brazilian firm could lead to higher beef prices for consumers and lower prices being paid to beef producers, Attorney General Drew Edmondson said Thursday.

This is a serious concern to him and Oklahoma beef producers, he said.

Beef production is vital to Oklahoma's economy, and Oklahoma is the fifth-largest cattle producing state with an inventory of 5.4 million head, he said.

"Beef processing is already a highly concentrated industry. The top five processors exercise an 85 percent market share, and this merger will result in the consolidation of three of these processors into one,” Edmondson wrote.

The entity that is created from the merger will be the largest beef processor in the United States, Edmondson said.

Representatives of the American companies involved in the proposed sale could not be reached for comment Thursday.


What are the implications?
The market concentration could be even greater in Oklahoma when the acquisition of Five Rivers Ranch Cattle Feed of Smithfield by JBS is taken into consideration, Edmondson wrote.
The purchase of Five Rivers means the merger has implications not only for meat packing but also the feedlot segment of the beef industry, he said.

Five Rivers is reported to be the largest cattle feeder in the United States with five of its feedlots in southwest Kansas and the Oklahoma and Texas panhandles, Edmondson wrote.

"After the merger, Oklahoma beef producers could face a packing market with only three competitors,” the Oklahoma attorney general said. "However, one of those competitors, JBS, may have a limited need to buy cattle because of the cattle inventories in Five Rivers' feedlots.”

This merger as currently proposed would result in the nation's largest meat processor exercising control over the nation's largest feedlot operation.

"This kind of vertical integration could result in a company that has the power to drive down the prices paid to beef producers while at the same time driving up the prices consumers pay for beef at the grocery store,” he said.

-------------------------------------------------------

Oklahoma's atty. gen. is just one of many state's atty's that are joining R-CALF in trying to get this deal stopped - and where is NCBA? Can there be any doubt what-so-ever on where their loyalties lie now? And for them to say that they represent producers...absolutely disgraceful..... :mad:
 

PORKER

Well-known member
NCBA? Can there be any doubt what-so-ever on where their loyalties lie now? And for them to say that they represent producers.
 

mrj

Well-known member
Sandhusker, do you KNOW what the NCBA position on this is?

Porker, sorry to hear you are so 'Dissed' Off by NCBA's failure to support or advise people to use your Scoring Ag products!!!!

What is wrong with calling for investigation into facts of that proposal and the effects of such a merger on the US cattle producer BEFORE condemning it????

mrj
 

Sandhusker

Well-known member
mrj said:
Sandhusker, do you KNOW what the NCBA position on this is?

Porker, sorry to hear you are so 'Dissed' Off by NCBA's failure to support or advise people to use your Scoring Ag products!!!!

What is wrong with calling for investigation into facts of that proposal and the effects of such a merger on the US cattle producer BEFORE condemning it????

mrj

How many facts is lacking for NCBA? Exactly what is it that they need to know before making a decision? R-CALF and a bunch of states attorneys already have it figured out, I guess somebody has do draw NCBA a picture? Can they be that stupid?
 

mrj

Well-known member
Sandhusker, can you say "cattle business politics"......that obviously is the 'driver' of R-CALF and maybe even some of the state Att. Gen's.

The "facts" (and nothing is "lacking" for NCBA) are that it is usual for US gov't agencies to investigate such mergers and approve or disaprove them. Letting the process follow the proper legal course and commenting at the appropriate time is what NCBA does, rather than grabbing headlines with half-baked, inflammatory rhetoric.

mrj
 

Sandhusker

Well-known member
mrj said:
Sandhusker, can you say "cattle business politics"......that obviously is the 'driver' of R-CALF and maybe even some of the state Att. Gen's.

The "facts" (and nothing is "lacking" for NCBA) are that it is usual for US gov't agencies to investigate such mergers and approve or disaprove them. Letting the process follow the proper legal course and commenting at the appropriate time is what NCBA does, rather than grabbing headlines with half-baked, inflammatory rhetoric.

mrj

What has NCBA's comments been?

What is half-baked and inflammatory about Mr. Edmundson's comments?
 
Top