Mike Pearson tells us about a lawsuit filed by Compass Group USA in a North Carolina federal court against the five meat packers.

The lawsuit filed against Cargill, JBS, Swift, Tyson and National Beef alleges they are conspiring to fix beef prices.

Since 2015, the lawsuit alleges the companies joined together to artificially inflated beef prices.

And the lawsuit does more than point fingers, it shines a light on the the market held by the packing houses. It alleges that the packers size and the structure of the beef market allows them to conspire to fix prices.

This lawsuit isn't the first time these companies have came under fire for suspected price fixing.

Currently, the U.S. Department of Justice and the Department of agriculture are investigating the claims against these packers.

This isn't the only lawsuit currently filed against the packers. Small Food Distributors filed one also and they allege that four of the companies control 80 percent of the beef prices themselves.

In August 2023, a Minnesota judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by beef producers who alleged the packers were fixing prices on fed cattle.

Farm Progress America is a daily look at key issues in agriculture. It is produced and presented by Mike Pearson, farm broadcaster and host of This Week in Agribusiness.