JBS, NCBA split: The world’s largest meatpacker, Brazil-based JBS, “suspended” membership in the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association a year ago, but plans to stay involved with the group, which is calling for more more transparency in price-setting for slaughter cattle. (Politico)
Chicken producer indicted: As part of an ongoing investigation into anti-competitive behavior in the broiler chicken industry, a federal grand jury indicted Georgia-based Claxton Poultry Farms for allegedly participating in a nationwide conspiracy to fix prices and rig bids for broiler chicken products; two top Claxton executives were indicted on similar charges last June. (Justice Department)
Persistent drought forecast: The wheat-growing northern Plains and much of the West will remain in drought through the end of August, along with a band of territory on either side of the Iowa-Minnesota border and stretching across southern Wisconsin and northeastern Illinois to cover most of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, said the Seasonal Drought Outlook. (National Weather Service)
‘Efficient’ grocers, more food waste: How a consolidated grocery sector drives food waste on the farm, and what to do about it. (ReFed)
KCS-CN merger: The board of directors of the Kansas City Southern railroad voted to merge with the Canadian National Railway, rather than the Canadian Pacific Railway, to create a railroad serving the three largest countries in North America. (KCS)
Polluter didn’t pay: North Dakota used $66 million in pandemic relief funds to clean up old oil and gas wells, reducing environmental damage but also relieving dozens of small to mid-sized companies from their responsibility to plug their wells themselves. (InsideClimate News)