US Beef Industry is Consolidating — Fast!

Somebody call the Humane Society! Brazilian meatpacking giant JBS SA is eating the US beef industry alive. Last year, JBS bought Colorado-based Swift & Co. Earlier this week, JBS announced that it would buy National Beef in Kansas City for $560. And then the acquisitive giant said it was in advanced talks to buy Smithfield Food Inc.'s beef business for $565.The business press described the deal as "shocking." And it must still pass through anti-trust review at the Bush Justice Department. Reuters reported that authorities will let the deal go through. If so, JBS will become the largest beef producer in the United States.JBS would control 32 percent of the US beef market and ten percent of the world market. Currently, Tyson has 25 percent of the US market.