JBS acquires Mountain States Rosen lamb plant: Ranchers seek anti-trust intervention

https://www.tsln.com/news/jbs-acquires-mountain-states-rosen-lamb-plant-ranchers-seeks-anti-trust-intervention/

• Sheep producers nationwide are wondering whether they will get their lambs sold this fall due to an impending purchase of Mountain States Rosen lamb processing facility. JBS recently acquired the plant through a bankruptcy auction.
  • The meat giant plans to halt lamb processing and instead use the plant to grind hamburger and cut steaks.
    • This will cause the lamb industry to have a surplus of about 350,000 more lambs than available processing capacity.
  • Carson Jorgensen raises sheep in central Utah with his family. He believes this situation that lamb producers are facing is dire enough to call for President Trumps attention.
    • “Without immediate action, lamb production in the Western U.S. will be destroyed,” said Jorgensen.
  • Jorgensen believes JBS is violating anti-trust laws by purchasing the plant and halting a significant amount of lamb processing. He feels that JBS is coming after the lamb market and has made this acquisition to take the market share and fill it with imports.
  • Brad Boner, Glenrock, WY sheep rancher, thinks JBS only wants to manipulate the lamb market. The meat giant is the largest lamb importer in the U.S., and this acquisition will give them even more market share to use for imported product.
  • Jorgensen is pleading with agricultural producers across the U.S. to join him in asking the DOJ to look into anti-trust violations.

Fed cattle exchange acquired by Central Stockyards, LLC

https://www.tsln.com/news/fed-cattle-exchange-acquired-by-central-stockyards-llc/

• The only weekly fed cattle online auction for the cattle industry, The Fed Cattle Exchange, has been acquired by Central Stockyards, LLC from 5150 Productions Company, LLC.
• Since 2016, the Fed Cattle exchange provided the industry with a platform for price discovery through competitive bidding. These prices benefitted the entire cattle industry and livestock futures markets by providing a transparent baseline price for weekly negotiated live cattle futures.
• Forrest Roberts, President and CEO of Central Stockyards, stated that his company’s plan is to use technical innovations to adapt to immediate industry needs, thus improving the Fed Cattle Exchange.
• Director of Operations for Central Stockyards, Surcy Peoples, said that the company will be bringing new marketing methods to the cattle industry that support the benefits of negotiated trade and reward value creation.

Boxed beef prices

www.nationalbeefwire.com

• Choice boxed beef: $201.11 (-1.85)
• Select boxed beef: $189.49 (-1.17)