DOJ Announces Expansion to Address Antitrust Concerns in Agriculture – Agweek

DEADWOOD, South Dakota — The U.S. Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division announced June 21 that it will expand resources and activities to address antitrust issues in agriculture.

Michael Kades, Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust, made the announcement during the 2024 R-CALF USA National Annual Convention in Deadwood, South Dakota.

“I’m proud to announce today that we’re using our increased funding to create a team of enforcement officers focused on agriculture,” Kades told the audience. “This team will be based in Chicago, closer to you and the behaviors they’ll be policing. They’ll have the leadership and commitment of our entire department behind them. They’ll focus on difficult cases and high-volume cases.”

This new team, the first of its kind in the Midwest, will focus primarily on antitrust, competition, and integrity issues in agricultural supply chains. The team will be tasked with enforcing agricultural regulations.

Bill Bullard, president of R-CALF USA, said the announcement follows years of encouraging three previous administrations to strongly enforce antitrust laws.

“We are pleased that the Department of Justice has made this announcement. It is consistent with our view that if we do not begin to enforce our antitrust laws, we will continue to see a decline in the number of cattle ranchers and cattle producers across the country,” Bullard said. “The latest census in 2022 showed that we have lost another 107,000 independent cattle ranches from our industry and we are becoming a consolidated and vertically integrated industry, similar to the hog and poultry industry. This is absolutely the wrong direction for the cattle industry.”

Bullard said R-CALF will continue to present factual circumstances that show there are serious problems in the beef cattle and meat processing industries.

“We have a highly concentrated meatpacking industry that has tremendous market power and needs balance,” Bullard said. “We hope the Justice Department will achieve the balance necessary to ensure that our independent cattle producers are on a level playing field with highly concentrated meatpacking plants.”

National Farmers Union President Rob Larew also expressed strong support for the Justice Department initiative.

“We appreciate the Department of Justice’s increased efforts to address anti-competitive practices in the agriculture sector. An increased focus on antitrust enforcement is a critical step toward ensuring fair competition and protecting family farmers and ranchers,” Larew said in a statement. “The National Farmers Union’s Farmers for Fairness campaign is playing a key role in highlighting these concerns, and we are pleased to see such significant progress. Ensuring a competitive marketplace is essential to the success and sustainability of America’s family farmers.”

For decades, South Dakota Farmers Union members have worked with the National Farmers Union to advocate for an investigation into the manipulation of agricultural markets. In 2022 and 2023, the South Dakota Farmers Union brought a group of South Dakota cattle producers to D.C. to meet with Kades. Kades attended the 2023 South Dakota Farmers Union State Convention.

“Michael Kades stayed in South Dakota for several additional days and met with our members in person, touring their cattle operations, feedlots and barns to hear their testimonies about the market manipulation they witnessed happening to them and their neighbors,” Doug Sombke, president of the South Dakota Farmers Union, said in a statement. “This move by the Department of Justice to increase its civil and criminal enforcement staff in the agriculture sector gives us hope that justice will prevail and wrongs will be righted.”

Kennedy is a South Dakota-based Agweek reporter who grew up on an organic grain farm where her family also raises cattle in eastern South Dakota. She graduated from South Dakota State University in 2023 with a concentration in agricultural communications and a minor in agricultural business. She enjoys connecting with producers and agribusinesses throughout the region while reporting on all things agriculture.