New Mexico’s Attorney General is launching a probe into the business practices of some of the nation’s largest beef processors. He contends the state’s ranchers and cattle farmers are being “harmed by out-of-state corporations.” The Attorney General, Hector Balderas, says he’s concerned about the “unfair and anti-competitive practices” of companies like Cargill, JBS, Tyson Foods, and the National Beef Packing Company, among others. The probe is believed to be first ever filed by a state attorney general. The probe accuses the mega-meatpacking companies of harming New Mexico’s families by reaping record profits at the expense of local residents, who are seeing their paychecks shrink and the price of meat rise. The news release from the attorney general’s office says the state has roughly 7,000 farms. The release also challenges any federal statutes or entities that he says illegally threaten New Mexico’s farming and ranching families. Representatives of the four largest meatpackers didn’t return calls from Meating Place Dot Com seeking comments.
From the National Association of Farm Broadcasting news service.