FRANKFORT, Ky. – Two of Kentucky’s top officials have requested that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) investigate possible anti-competitive practices in the beef packing sector.

Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles and Attorney General Daniel Cameron sent a joint letter to U.S. Attorney General William Barr to look into the matter. They noted that despite steady consumer demand for beef, the prices paid to the Bluegrass State’s cattle producers have declined. They said that as a result of the possible market manipulation, Kentucky consumers are paying more for beef while the state’s 38,000 cattle producers are making less.

“As Kentucky and the nation move toward reopening the economy in a quick and responsible manner, consumers and farmers deserve to know if there is a scheme to threaten market competition in the beef industry,” Quarles said. “Our beef cattle producers have seen 30 and 40 percent price drops since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, even while the price of beef products at the grocery store has increased.”

In the letter, Quarles and Cameron asked the DOJ to use the department’s investigatory resources to conduct an in-depth study of the current economic realities within the cattle industry to determine if the practices by the meat processors are anti-competitive.

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to disruptions at meat processing plants and created shortages nationwide. With four beef processors controlling 80 percent of the American market, such disruptions further exacerbate pre-existing disparities between the price of live cattle and the wholesale price of beef. With Kentucky’s cattle industry making up the largest beef cattle state east of the Mississippi River, the two said that these practices are putting intense pressure on the state. According to the University of Kentucky, the state also has the eighth-largest herd population nationally with approximately 1 million beef cows over 7 million acres of pasture land.

 “We have about four packers that control 80 percent of the market,” Dave Maples, Kentucky Cattlemen’s Association executive vice president, told the Associated Press. “What this letter and call for an investigation is about is having the Department of Justice investigate these packers and ensure that their practices are transparent and fair and these farmers get what their product is worth and that these four major packers aren’t colluding to fix prices.”

This is not the first time that meat processors have come under scrutiny for possible market-manipulation practices. In March, U.S. Senators called for investigations into record profits for beef processors such as Cargill and Tyson Foods after ranchers complained that surging meat prices due to coronavirus hoarding did not translate into higher cattle prices.

“Beef is flying off grocery shelves but farmers are seeing prices go down,” Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) wrote on Twitter at the time. “If packers are illegally manipulating markets during crisis, we need USDA & DOJ & CFTC (Commodity Futures Trading Commission) to investigate + help farmers. Four companies control 80 percent of market & they’re taking advantage.”

At the time of Grassley’s tweet, processors’ margins had risen to more than $600 per head of cattle, according to HedgersEdge.com.

“Kentucky’s cattle producers and consumers already face incredible economic challenges as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Cameron said. “(W)e must ensure that they are treated fairly in the marketplace and do not face additional hardship because of price fixing or other anti-competitive actions.”