10/23/08 Reaction to Justice Department's action against JBS acquisition

Washington Ag October 23, 2008 Several cattle and farm organizations are supportive of the U.S. Justice Department's anti-trust action to prevent meatpacker JBS-Swift from acquiring National Beef. They include such diverse groups as the American Farm Bureau Federation and the National Farmers Union. The Justice Department says the proposed acquisition by JBS, currently the third largest beef packer, of National Beef, the fourth-largest U.S. beef packer, would lower prices paid to cattle producers and mean higher beef prices for consumers. Bill Bullard of R-CALF USA says they are tremendously pleased the Justice Department and 13 states joined to protect the interest of producers and consumers. Bullard: "In essence to protect the competitiveness of the cattle industry. And they have recognized that the ongoing mergers and acquisitions in our industry have really threatened the competitiveness of the industry itself. So, w are greatly pleased." The National Cattlemen's Beef Association's response was more restrained saying it encourages the process of due diligence and will be closely monitoring the case and the impacts on the beef industry. Critics of Justice's action say the real issue in the beef packing industry is over capacity. I'm Bob Hoff.