WASHINGTON, DC - Iowa Republican Senator Joni Ernst has joined 18 other senators to ask the U.S. Justice Department to investigate market manipulation in cattle industry.
Ernst tweeted a letter from the senators to Attorney General William Barr calling for an investigation of price manipulation and anti-competitive behavior on the part of the four major meat packing companies, which control 80 percent of the cattle industry.
The letter notes that since February, cattle prices have slumped more than 18 percent while wholesale beef prices have jumped 115 percent.
It says cattle producers are being threatened by the lack of competition in the meat packing industry. The letter also notes the situation is being further destabilized by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The letter is signed by a bipartisan group of 19 U.S. Senators.