(Radio Iowa) – Iowa’s governor has joined with the governors of Montana, Oklahoma, Nebraska and the Dakotas in calling for a public update on any federal investigation of the meatpacking industry.

Governor Kim Reynolds and the five other governors have sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland. The group says decades of consolidation have led to anticompetitive behavior from the four major meatpackers that threatens the existence of independent cattle producers. Tyson, J-B-S, Cargill and National Beef controll about 80 percent of the beef market. Reports from June of last year indicated the Trump Administration’s Department of Justice had initiated a civil investigation of those meatpackers. The Republican governors, including Reynolds, are asking the Biden Administration’s Justice Department to provide regular updates to the public, where appropriate.

President Biden has appointed a commissioner to the Federal Trade Commission who is well known for her criticism of anti-competitive practices in the poultry industry. The F-T-C also has the power to file lawsuits over monopolies.