JBS — Latest Stories — Food & Power

The Bigger Tensions Behind Trump’s Beef with Cattle Ranchers

President Trump’s plan to import more beef from Argentina hit a nerve with ranchers, not only because it sunk cattle futures, but because U.S. ranchers already feel threatened by unlabeled imports.

Poultry & LivestockClaire KellowayOctober 30, 2025Beef, JBS, COOL, Trade, Meatpackers, Secondary Feature

A New Threat to Small Meat Processors: Monopolized Waste Disposal.

A JBS-owned rendering company, MOPAC, canceled all services for independent meat processors on Dec. 1. Without a place for their waste, small packers and the farms they serve are going under.

“The Meat of the Future” Risks Capture by Today’s Monopolists

Policy makers have a chance to create an open, competitive, and fair cellular meat industry. But early investments by venture capital and conventional meat could shape this new market in Big Ag’s image.

JBS Buys Assets from its Hog Supplier TriOak

JBS will buy undisclosed assets from Iowa hog producer TriOak, locking up a supply of Prop-12 compliant hogs and vertically integrating an already consolidated industry.

Mergers & Acquisitions, Poultry & LivestockClaire KellowayDecember 20, 2022JBS, Iowa, pork, Primary Feature

Meatpacker Lobbying Kept Plants Open and Increased Covid Deaths, Congressional Report Reveals

A congressional report reveals how meatpacking corporations exaggerated risks of food shortages and drafted an executive order to keep their plants open, deterring health and safety regulations.

Labor, Processing & Distribution, PolicyAmy HuoJune 8, 2022JBS, tyson, collusion, Trump, Meatpacking workers, meatpacker

Multinational Meatpackers Move in on Aquaculture

JBS makes a bid for Australia’s second-largest salmon corporation, supercharging fears about factory farms at sea.

SeafoodClaire KellowaySeptember 2, 2021JBS, Aquaculture, fisheries, fishermen, consolidation

Cyberattacks Aren’t the Only Issue in America’s Concentrated Cattle Market

Lawmakers and ranchers want answers from antitrust enforcers about rising consumer beef prices and stagnant live cattle prices.

Poultry & LivestockClaire KellowayJune 10, 2021cattle, Antitrust, JBS, commodity markets

JBS Aims to Shutter Critical Western US Lamb Processor, DOJ Issues a “Standstill” Order

In a few weeks, many Western sheep ranchers might not have a place to slaughter their lambs. Global meatpacking giant JBS last month won the bankruptcy auction for the Mountain State Rosen (MSR) lamb processing plant in Greeley, Colorado.

Food Worker Organizations File USDA Civil Rights Complaint Against Meatpackers for Exposing Workers of Color to COVID-19

Last week, a group of organizations representing meatpacking workers filed a civil rights complaint with the USDA against dominant meatpackers. The Title VI Civil Rights Act complaint alleges that Tyson Foods’ and JBS’s response to COVID-19 had a disproportionately harmful, disparate impact on their employees of color.

Ranchers and Lawmakers Decry Market Manipulation, as Cattle Prices Plummet and Monopolies Profit on Coronavirus

Wholesale beef prices have jumped to record levels, as shoppers stockpile meat in response to the global coronavirus pandemic. But this run on beef isn’t helping cattle ranchers. On the contrary, cattle prices have plummeted since January, putting many ranchers on the brink of collapse.

Poultry & LivestockClaire KellowayMarch 25, 2020Antitrust, collusion, consolidation, COVID-19, DOJ, JBS, price fixing, R-CALF, tyson, USDA, resiliency, Beef

U.S. Lifts Ban on Brazilian Beef, Threatening Ranchers and Consumers

Food safety officials lifted a ban on Friday on Brazilian beef imports, introducing a potential windfall for multinational meatpackers and significant threats to American ranchers and consumers.

Processing & DistributionClaire KellowayFebruary 26, 2020Brazil, Food Safety, JBS, marfrig, OCM, R-CALF, Trade, foreign ownership

Ranchers Rally for Fair Markets, Take Beef Checkoffs to Court

Last week, nearly 500 cattle producers from 14 states rallied in Omaha, Nebraska to denounce corporate control over cattle markets and to demand that the Trump administration do something to fix it.