GREELEY, Colo. — JBS USA Holdings Inc. is expected to close Monday on its purchase of the Mountain States Rosen lamb processing facility in Greeley, Colo., but a number of congressional leaders from five Western states have asked Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim to investigate the acquisition.
“We understand that JBS is not the first potential buyer to express interest in the MSR facility. An earlier interested buyer intended to continue operating MSR’s Greeley facility and even expand its capacity,” read the letter from senators and representatives for California, Montana, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming. “However, it appears that after submitting a winning bid during bankruptcy proceedings, JBS is preparing to completely shut down all lamb processing at the site.
“We urge you to immediately open an investigation into this acquisition and take appropriate steps to prevent irreversible actions that might harm the ability of American sheep ranchers to get their products to market until the department can determine how best to protect competition in this significant part of America’s food supply.”
Signers of the letter included U. S. Senators John Barrasso (Wyo.), Steve Daines (Mont.), Mike Lee (Utah), Mitt Romney (Utah), M. Michael Rounds (S.D.) and John Thune (S.D.). U.S. Representatives who signed the letter included: Rob Bishop (Utah), Liz Cheney (Wyo.), Greg Gianforte (Mont.), Dusty Johnson (S.D.), Devin Nunes (Calif.) and Chris Stewart (Utah).
— American Sheep Industry Association
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