Noem presses Department of Justice to continue investigation into meatpacking industry
May 28, 2021
PIERRE, S.D.–Governor Kristi Noem and five other governors have written the United States Department of Justice, asking them to continue their investigation into anti-competitive practices in the meatpacking industry. The DOJ had originally sent investigative demands to the nation’s four largest meatpackers in May 2020.
Noem and the other governors wrote, “Perhaps no person embodies the independent and untamable spirit of the United States better than the cattle producer. But this way of life is under threat. Decades of consolidation in meatpacking has significantly limited the options that producers have to market their cattle and has created a situation where one segment of the beef industry has near total control over the entire market.”
Governor Noem was joined in signing the letter by Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds, Montana Governor Greg Gianforte, Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts, North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, and Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt.