by Erica Shaffer 27/12/2012
WASHINGTON – National Farmers Union (NFU) and a coalition of 40 agricultural organizations asked the US Department of Justice to investigate a proposed merger of JBS USA and two US-based beef packing plants owned by XL Four Star Beef, a division of Brooks, Alberta-based XL Foods.
In its letter, the group urged the DOJ to extend the merger waiting period to provide additional time for review of the merger. The group also asked DOJ to request additional information, including cattle-procurement practices, competition levels and the history of JBS’s previous acquisitions of closed packing plants.