December 23, 2022

Farm group from Iowa state, US appeals to senators to stop JBS deal

An Iowa state advocacy group has appealed to US senators to stop an agreement allowing JBS, one of the biggest pork processors in the world, to buy large parts of TriOak Foods, a southeast Iowa swine supplier, Iowa News Service reported.

Brazilian-based JBS Foods has agreed to purchase a portion of TriOak Foods, one of the biggest pork suppliers in the country. TriOak currently sells its swine to JBS, but this transaction would further integrate the two companies and consolidate an already small number of producers.

Fourth-generation swine farmer Barb Kalbach, a board member of Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement, said that consolidation is yet another blow to small farmers and the worst possible example of vertical integration.

Kalbach said swine are raised by farmers before being transported to the JBS packing facility. Then JBS sells what they pack to grocery stores and other retailers across the nation, which means they control the entire supply chain.

The group are looking to US Senators Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst to invoke the Packers and Stockyards Act, which ensures effective competition and integrity in livestock, meat and poultry markets.

Half of all beef and pork operations in the US are foreign-owned between JBS and Smithfield Farms. Kalbach said that the trend is gaining pace and has been moving for more than 40 years in what she terms the wrong direction.

Kalbach said the deal not only eliminates specific markets for small-scale or family farmers, but it is also the cause of "emptying out" of rural America and Iowa.

Meatpackers said deals like these allow them to become more effective and give them greater control over the wellbeing and security of the livestock they raise and sell.

-      Iowa News Service