The new lawsuit is in addition to the previously announced litigation pursued by the Department of Justice and more than a dozen states who are also seeking to block the deal.
R-CALF and OCM said in a news release that a separate suit was called for because their lawsuit addresses the potential effect of a JBS-National Beef merger on feeders and other cattle. The government lawsuit, they say, focuses primarily on the effects on fat cattle and consumers.
‘We believe our involvement will assist the government’s case because we can fully represent the views and competitive concerns of farmers, ranchers and feeders who are most affected by this merger’, R-CALF USA CEO Bill Bullard said in the release.
On its Web site, OCM describes itself as a national non-profit, non-partisan public policy research organization in Lincoln, Neb, dedicated to returning the food and agriculture sector to true supply-and-demand-based competition.
Source: meatingplace.com
Further moves to block JBS/National beef merger
R-CALF (Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund), United Stockgrowers of America and the Organization for Competitive Markets have filed a lawsuit to block JBS's acquisition of National Beef.