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<title>Daily Darwin: Tuesday, December 6, 2022 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

This ain't turning out well...

Daily Darwin: Tuesday, December 6, 2022

Mac Watson

Daily Video News

It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming for Thursday, July 31st.  I’m Mac Watson.

This newscast is brought to you by the Wyoming State Fair. Wrap up your summer at the Wyoming State Fair, August 11th through the 15th in Douglas!

Rodeo, Demolition Derby, live music, entertainment and fair food await. Learn more at W-Y State Fair dot com. See you at the fair! This ad was paid for by Converse County Tourism.

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After taking in a friend's baby, a Casper foster mom says her family became the target of anonymous threats by the biological mother. Cowboy State Daily’s Kolby Fedore reports that the bio-mom is charged with two stalking felonies. 

“Investigators allege that 27-year-old Daji Carter used fake messaging apps, social media accounts, and more to reach out to a foster mom while she had custody of her biological son. When the infant was first placed in Monroe's care, she received an anonymous message that said, "You're going to die" with a knife emoji and blood. Monroe quickly took us to the police, and an investigation was able to link it back to Dodgy Carter. The threats continued for several weeks, even after protection orders were put in place.”

Carter was bound over to district court Tuesday after a preliminary hearing on two felony counts of stalking and two misdemeanor counts of violating a stalking protection order. She posted a $3,500 surety bond July 15 and was released from custody. 

U.S. House candidate Steve Friess received 19 endorsements Thursday by Republican lawmakers, former legislators, and others. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that Chuck Gray calls them “a tired class of political 1% insiders.”

“Steve Friess, who's running for U.S. House, garnered 19 endorsements this week, including from former Republican Governor Jim Garinger, a host of Republican lawmakers, former lawmakers, oil and gas industry leaders, Secretary of State Chuck Gray fired back by calling them a class of insiders, essentially, who are in favor of woke wind and data center projects. That may come as a surprise to some of them. For example, Dan Docksteder, who was among the endorsers, was one of the very few votes against big tax exemptions for data centers.”

Gray has come out against data centers, while Friess has said state and county governments – not Congress – should lead data center permitting decisions in ways that protect Wyomingites. Both men tout a pro-traditional-energy stance.

Another 10 illegal drivers were busted in Laramie County Sheriff Brian Kozak’s latest Truck Around and Find Out operation this week. Cowboy State Daily’s Greg Johnson reports that includes one speeding with what looked like emergency lights. 

“The last truck around campaign that they did, they arrested 46. Since they started this back in November, there's almost 130 illegal drivers have been taken off the road. But Kozak said that really it's not about. Although that gets the headlines, it's not about just going out and rounding up illegal drivers. It's about unsafe truck driving, and people who are illegal and don't have licenses are unsafe. Kozak also said that he knows the ‘Truck Around and Find Out’ campaign is going to get criticism. It's going to be politicized, and he says he's expected that, and that has happened.”

Overall, this week’s Truck Around and Find Out resulted in about 120 traffic stops, with 40 tickets issued to drivers and 10 arrested for being in the country illegally, said Sheriff Kozak and Chief Deputy Chance Walkama.

A suspended Newcastle police sergeant pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges alleging a yearlong pattern of abuse toward a woman. Cowboy State Daily’s Kolby Fedore reports that he faces up to 27 1/2 years in prison.

“On Thursday, a suspended Newcastle police sergeant pled not guilty to six criminal charges. Prosecutors say that 36-year-old Nicholas Kaminsky, in uniform, terrorized an ex-girlfriend. He used a police cruiser, a canine, and allegedly a knife.  Kaminsky posted a $35,000 cash bond weeks ago. His next court appearance will be for a trial unless they come to a plea agreement before then.”

During the hearing, defense attorney Ryan Titus told the court Kaminski had found new employment that requires travel. He asked the judge to modify Kaminski's bond conditions to allow him to leave the Sixth Judicial District for work. Crook County attorney DaNece Day did not object, telling the court it was important Kaminski remain employed.

I’ll have more news from Cowboy State Daily right after this.

Cowboy State Daily News continues now….

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A federal judge has OK'd a class-action price-fixing lawsuit against the nation’s four largest meatpackers. Cowboy State Daily’s Kate Meadows reports that Crook County rancher Tyler Lindholm says, “The packers have controlled the destiny of beef for decades, but people are starting to push back.”

“A whole group of people is listed in this class action lawsuit that alleges that the four big meat packers in the U.S. price fixed beef during a five-year time span 2015 through 2020. They allege that these meat packers conspired to manipulate prices, so they bought low from producers and then sold high to grocers and consumers. That's the allegation. Crook County Rancher Tyler Lindholm said it is absolutely up to Congress to fix this. That the government needs to get involved. He said, "What is allowing these big four to capture so much business under one umbrella? He said, "Congress needs to go break the back of these packers.”

Currently, four companies control more than 80% of the U.S-fed cattle processing market, giving them wide influence over cattle prices and the nation's beef supply.

Wyoming legislators have advanced a “Band-Aid” to food freedom laws that led to shutting down Hippie Cow Creamery in Cody over selling raw milk lattes. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that one lawmaker says, “I’m under no illusion we’re going to fix this overnight.”

“Senator Bob Ide had said that he's under no illusion they're going to fix the Food Freedom Act overnight. He called this stopgap measure a band aid. What it does or proposes to do if it passes is to have the director of the Department of Agriculture have an exemption privilege to where he could exempt certain people from the Food Freedom Act, so they can sell their wares at a non-designated location. Senator Barry Craigel worried, like, is this giving false hope?”

The bill seeks to give the director of the Wyoming Department of Agriculture the discretion to give one exemption each, for home food sellers wanting to sell products outside the designated food-freedom sale sites already in law.  

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Cheyenne native Alan O’Hashi vividly remembers being caught in the canyon when the Big Thompson Flood, the deadliest flood in Colorado history, hit on July 31, 1976. Cowboy State Daily’s Executive Editor Jimmy Orr reports that O’Hashi survived when a floating portable toilet snagged his car and carried it to safety.

“It's a spooky story because as he's driving up the canyon, he's the only one driving up, and he sees a ton of cars driving down in quickly, and he had no idea what happened. Well, a dam burst, and it's the deadliest flood in Colorado history. And Alan Ohashi, the star of the story, is doomed. This wall of water comes down, and it's a it's about to whisk him, off the mountain, when a portable toilet is floating by, floating by, and knocks him into the canyon wall somehow, and and he survives. He shouldn't have survived, and he says that he should not have survived.”

As a young college student working as a graduate assistant at the University of Wyoming in 1976, Alan O’Hashi had landed a plum summer job along with his university gig. He was a ranger in Rocky Mountain National Park. A Cheyenne native, O’Hashi, now 73 and living in Boulder, Colorado. The flood killed 144 people and cost 30 to 40 million dollars in damage.

Just because a Douglas man facing 72 child sex and pornography-related charges was a no-show for his arraignment hearing on Tuesday doesn’t necessarily mean whoever put up $250,000 cash to bond him out of jail will lose all that money. Cowboy State Daily’s Greg Johnson reports according to Wyoming law, Converse County could benefit.

“When all is said and done with this bond money, whether it's just deemed to be forfeit, whatever is left over, what happens to it is it goes to local schools. That's according to Wyoming law. It will go to the Converse County Treasurer's office for them to put in that county school fund. So the answer to what happens at $250,000 ultimately, whatever isn't eaten up in court costs, fines, anything like that, goes to schools.”

Smallbone also could be ordered to pay for the costs of the Converse County Sheriff’s Office to go get him from San Francisco, where he was 

, four hours after he missed his court hearing.

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And that’s today’s news. Get your free digital subscription to Wyoming's only statewide newspaper by hitting the Daily Newsletter button on 

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 channel, or listen to us on your favorite podcast app.  Thanks for watching - I’m Mac Watson, for Cowboy State Daily.

News image 7 31 26

<title>Cowboy State Daily Video Newscast: Friday, July 31, 2026 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Friday's headlines include:
* Kozak Busts 10 More Illegal Drivers
* Price-Fixing Lawsuit Against Big-4 Meatpackers
* Foster Parent Says She Was Terrorized By Bio Mom

Cowboy State Daily Video Newscast: Friday, July 31, 2026

Coy Knobel

Don Day Weather

Mostly sunny in much of Wyoming on Friday with a chance of afternoon rain, smoky in some areas. Partly cloudy overnight. Highs in the 80s and 90s. Lows mainly in the 50s and low 60s.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":" "}]

Areas of smoke, chance of rain mainly after 4 p.m., otherwise sunny and breezy today with a high near 92 and wind gusts as high as 24 mph. Breezy, gradually becoming clear overnight with a low near 58 and wind gusts as high as 21 mph.

Patchy smoke, slight chance of rain after 2 p.m., otherwise mostly sunny today with a high near 90 and wind gusts as high as 20 mph. Mostly clear overnight with a low near 59.

  Areas of smoke, sunny today with a high near 88 and partly cloudy and breezy overnight with a low near 54 and wind gusts as high as 21 mph.

 Sunny today with a high near 88 and mostly clear overnight with a low near 50.

  Patchy smoke, sunny today with a high near 91 and partly cloudy overnight with a low near 55.

Patchy smoke, slight chance of rain after 5 p.m., increasing clouds and breezy today with a high near 82 and wind gusts as high as 25 mph. Mostly clear and breezy overnight with a low near 56 and wind gusts as high as 21 mph.

 Patchy smoke, slight chance of rain after 3 p.m., increasing clouds and breezy today with a high near 84 and wind gusts as high as 21 mph. Mostly clear overnight with a low near 49.

 Patchy smoke, slight chance of rain after 3 p.m., increasing clouds and breezy today with a high near 89 and wind gusts as high as 28 mph. Mostly clear overnight with a low near 51.

  Patchy smoke, slight chance of rain after 2 p.m., otherwise sunny and breezy today with a high near 85 and wind gusts as high as 29 mph. Mostly clear overnight with a low near 49.

 Patchy smoke, slight chance of rain after 2 p.m., otherwise sunny and breezy today with a high near 83 and wind gusts as high as 22 mph. Mostly clear and breezy overnight with a low near 50 and wind gusts as high as 21 mph.

  Patchy smoke, slight chance of rain after 3 p.m., otherwise sunny today with a high near 89 and wind gusts as high as 20 mph. Mostly clear overnight with a low near 50.

Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park

:  Patchy smoke, sunny today with a high near 82 and wind gusts as high as 20 mph. Mostly clear overnight with a low near 46.

Areas of smoke, slight chance of rain after 3 p.m., increasing clouds and breezy today with a high near 95 and wind gusts as high as 24 mph. Mostly clear and breezy overnight with a low near 62 and wind gusts as high as 25 mph.

:  Areas of smoke, slight chance of rain after 1 p.m., otherwise mostly sunny and breezy today with a high near 92 and wind gusts as high as 23 mph. Breezy, gradually becoming clear overnight with a low near 62 and wind gusts as high as 21 mph.

  Areas of smoke, sunny today with a high near 93 and mostly clear and breezy overnight with a low near 59 and wind gusts as high as 21 mph.

   Chance of rain mainly after 1 p.m., areas of smoke, otherwise mostly sunny today with a high near 88 and mostly clear overnight with a low near 61.

  Slight chance of rain after 1 p.m., otherwise mostly sunny and hot today with a high near 96 and mostly clear overnight with a low near 57.

:   Slight chance of rain after 1 p.m., otherwise mostly sunny and hot today with a high near 95 and mostly clear overnight with a low near 59.

Mostly sunny today with a high near 91 and wind gusts as high as 17 mph. Mostly cloudy, becoming clear overnight with a low near 60 and wind gusts as high as 24 mph.

   Sunny today with a high near 88 and wind gusts as high as 17 mph. Mostly clear overnight with a low near 62 and wind gusts as high as 17 mph.

:  Sunny today with a high near 85 and mostly clear overnight with a low near 60 and wind gusts as high as 16 mph.

  Slight chance of rain after 3 p.m., otherwise sunny and hot today with a high near 92 and partly cloudy overnight with a slight chance of rain before 9 p.m. and a low near 60.

  Chance of rain mainly after 3 p.m., increasing clouds and hot today with a high near 91 and partly cloudy overnight with a chance of rain before 9 p.m. and a low near 60.

  Slight chance of rain after noon, otherwise sunny today with a high near 90 and wind gusts as high as 18 mph. Partly cloudy overnight with a low near 58 and wind gusts as high as 20 mph.

   Chance of rain mainly after 3 p.m., otherwise sunny today with a high near 85 and partly cloudy overnight with a chance of rain before 9 p.m. and a low near 57.

  Chance of rain mainly after 3 p.m., otherwise mostly sunny today with a high near 82 and partly cloudy overnight with a slight chance of rain before 9 p.m. and a low near 51.

  Sunny today with a high near 88 and mostly cloudy, gradually becoming clear overnight with a slight chance of rain before 9 p.m. and a low near 57.

  Sunny today with a high near 88 and mostly clear overnight with a low near 56.

   Mostly sunny today with a high near 85 and partly cloudy overnight with a low near 51.

   Sunny and hot today with a high near 91 and mostly clear overnight with a low near 50.

Daycap small 7 31 26

<title>Don Day's Wyoming Weather Forecast: Friday, July 31, 2026 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Don Day's Wyoming Weather Forecast: Friday, July 31, 2026

Headshot of Cowboy State Daily's general assignment reporter, Clair McFarland.

Clair McFarland

Government & Politics

Politics

Nineteen Republican state leaders, including a former Wyoming governor, have endorsed Steve Friess for U.S. House, the candidate’s team told Cowboy State Daily on Thursday.

Friess is in the final three weeks of a fiery race for the Republican nomination to the House seat Rep. Harriet Hageman is leaving to run for U.S. Senate.

Of the 14 endorsers Cowboy State Daily was able to reach Thursday for interviews, all touted Friess’s merits. A minority of four specifically voiced a desire to see someone beat Secretary of State Chuck Gray, who is one of Friess’s eight GOP opponents.

Former Gov. Jim Geringer said he’s endorsing Friess “because he’s the right guy.”

Geringer also pointed to Gray’s upbringing in California and said, “I don’t see him as being connected and aware enough of national issues to be able to handle what Steve Friess has already done.”

Friess has said that he organized a group of top Washington, D.C., attorneys to craft ready-made executive order proposals for President Donald Trump ahead of his first inauguration in 2017. The Friess family also kick-started Charlie Kirk’s group Turning Point USA and a host of other conservative groups and causes.

Gray was elected to the state Legislature in 2016 and served for six years. He was elected Secretary of State in 2022 and has repeatedly pushed the Legislature for election reform, resulting in the passage of several new election laws.

[{"type":"text","text":"Both men point to pro-life victories."}]

Gray and Friess also face state Senate President Bo Biteman, Casper businessman Reid Rasner, former Superintendent of Public Instruction Jillian Balow, former legislator Keith Goodenough, singer/actor Richard Dodson, and military veterans David Giralt and Kevin Christensen.

[{"type":"text","text":"The primary election is Aug. 18."}]

“Steve has a lot of skill. ‘Hochma’ is the word in the Old Testament: wisdom,” said former legislator Nathan Winters. 

Winters said that wisdom manifests in Friess’s four children, whom he cast as well-educated and thoughtful.

“As I’ve watched Steve, he’s just a remarkable person to run for that office,” said Winters.

Winters runs a Christian-issues advocacy group, Wyoming Family Alliance. But he said he gives his endorsement in his private capacity, not in connection with any group.

Most of the endorsers matched Winters’ attitude of praise. A minority of four added negative comments about Gray.

“Oh, I mean I’m not going to get into personal attacks,” said former Senate President Tony Ross, a Republican from Cheyenne, when saying why he wants someone to beat Gray. “I mean I think it’s self-evident. Jeez-Louise.”

Former state Rep. Elaine Harvey, a Big Horn County Republican, went further. On the one hand, she praised Friess on a nuanced policy level, saying she agrees with his approaches to public-lands management, health insurance and energy policy.

On the other hand, Harvey said she’s “disgusted” with Gray, in particular for his recurring spats with Gov. Mark Gordon in state board meetings.

[{"type":"text","text":"The other endorsers are:"}]

The four who voiced specific desires to see someone beat Gray were Geringer, Ross, Harvey and Ron Micheli. The rest were silent on that topic, sticking to Friess’s merits.

[{"type":"text","text":"‘Tired Class Of Political 1% Insiders’"}]

Gray in a Thursday text message called the endorsers a “tired class of political 1% insiders.”

“It’s not a surprise that Jackson Hole socialite Steve Friess is receiving the support of the same 1% insiders who want woke data centers and woke wind projects,” wrote Gray.

Not all of Friess’s endorsers have voiced a position on wind farms and data centers. Dockstader was one of seven Senate Republicans who voted against 

giving tax breaks to large data centers in 2010

Gray has come out against data centers, while Friess has said state and county governments – not Congress – should lead data center permitting decisions in ways that protect Wyomingites.

[{"type":"text","text":"Both men tout a pro-traditional-energy stance."}]

“Jackson socialite Steve Friess has rounded up the same tired class of political 1% insiders who have spent years trying to stop the silent majority and who are upset that I’ve been so successful in advancing common sense election integrity measures,” Gray continued.

Bebout rebutted that, saying "I call B.S." Bebout said he dislikes wind farms insofar as they're associated with government subsidies; and he approves of much of Gray's advocacy for election reform. He said he disapproves of Gray's approach to state land boards, where, Bebout said, he'd "try to make a stand or try to be, just ridiculous. And he doesn't fit." 

Gray alleged a “silent majority of Wyoming will see through this attempt by the insiders, with their media allies at Cowboy State Daily – which is owned by Friess allies in Jackson – to get behind a Jackson based insider candidate.”

Gray asserted that Friess is trying to “manufacture” momentum but “isn’t even in 2nd place in this race.”

[{"type":"text","text":"Then Give The Jackson Money Back, Says Friess"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Friess countered in his own interview."}]

“Now isn’t Chuck the insider, with the new GOP trying to put the thumb on the scale for him?” he asked.

One of Gray’s recent slogans has been for people not to “let Jackson buy” the race.

Friess had the biggest war chest as of July 1 with $2.5 million, followed by Rasner at $2 million and Gray at nearly $1.4 million. Each of those three has loaned himself more than $1 million.

“I’m curious then, if he’s interested in returning the checks he’s received from donors in Jackson Hole,” said Friess. “If Jackson money is a bad thing.”

Donations from Jackson residents to Gray’s campaign committee as of July 1 totaled $59,000, or just over a quarter of his individual contributions, according to the U.S. Federal Election Commission (FEC).

[{"type":"text","text":"But Not Tom Lubnau"}]

Former House Speaker and Cowboy State Daily columnist Tom Lubnau didn’t join the list of Friess endorsers.

He speculated that for an endorser list that big to emerge suddenly, someone is purposefully coordinating endorsements for Friess.

Lubnau theorized that Friess is trying to benefit from an “Anyone-but-Chuck” mantra that’s surfaced within the past couple weeks among some Wyomingites.

 last week that he and Gray are tied in the polls and it’s a “two-man race.” 

 that Friess’s argument is, “hold your nose and vote for me, or else your U.S. Representative might be Chuck Gray.”

[{"type":"text","text":"Lubnau clarified in a Thursday interview."}]

“It wasn’t a comment about Steve Friess. I was commenting on what the campaign tactic looked like – by coming out and saying ‘We’re (Friess and Gray) both at 16% so vote for me.’”

[{"type":"text","text":"Lubnau said he hadn’t seen that strategy used in a statewide campaign."}]

Even in the 2016 primary election where Liz Cheney narrowly won the nomination to U.S. House against eight other Republican contenders, Lubnau said, he can’t remember one of the candidates using a unite-against-Liz strategy.

To the columnist, Friess’s messaging looks like, “Abandon your affection for the candidate you’re in love with and vote for me – as part of the ABC (anyone-but-Chuck) movement.”

[{"type":"text","text":"Lubnau called it an “interesting tactic.”"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"So We Asked Friess"}]

Friess doubled down in his interview, saying his polling shows a vote for anyone other than him is a vote for Gray.

“I really want to unite the Republican Party and then to focus on making lives better in Wyoming,” he said.  

“I need the 70% of Republicans who are not fans of Chuck to consolidate, and we will win in a landslide,” added Friess.

He voiced gratitude to his endorsers, and disappointment in the state Republican Party for picking sides among its own registrants before the primary election by endorsing Gray last week.

When the party started the vetting process, Friess said he believed it was about vetting and exposing any unsavory candidates – similar to when the Republican National Committee galvanized against white supremacist David Duke.

“I was stunned when (party leadership) came out with a singular selection,” said Friess.

While the Wyoming Republican Party leaders are endorsing Gray as a candidate, they’re also suing his office – to overturn a state law that bars the party from financially backing one Republican over another in the primary election.

Some interpret that ban as a ban on endorsements, since it bars both direct and indirect financial backing. It’s unclear if the ban goes that far.

The party argues that the ban violates its First Amendment rights, and has produced case law to support its point. That case is ongoing.

Mix Collage 30 Jul 2026 03 01 PM 2190

<title>Friess Gets 19 High Profile Endorsements, Gray Calls Them Tired Political 'Insiders' | Cowboy State Daily</title>

U.S. House candidate Steve Friess received 19 endorsements Thursday by Republican lawmakers, former legislators, energy industry leaders and Gov. Jim Geringer. Chuck Gray called them "a tired class of political 1% insiders" who support "woke wind projects."

Friess Gets 19 High Profile Endorsements, Gray Calls Them Tired Political 'Insiders'

Employee kate meadows cropped

Kate Meadows

Agriculture

A sweeping class-action lawsuit accusing the nation's four largest meatpackers of conspiring to manipulate cattle and beef prices is moving forward after a federal judge in Minnesota certified several classes of plaintiffs earlier this month.

The lawsuit alleges that JBS, Tyson Foods, Cargill and National Beef coordinated to restrict beef supplies and inflate prices between June 2015 and February 2020, harming ranchers who sold cattle while forcing wholesalers, grocers, consumers, restaurants and caterers to pay more for beef.

Together, the four companies control more than 80% of the U.S-fed cattle processing market, giving them wide influence over cattle prices and the nation's beef supply.

[{"type":"text","text":"U.S. District Judge John Tunheim issued his ruling July 16."}]

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"From The Big 12 To The Big Four"}]

For Wyoming ranchers who have watched consolidation reshape the industry over decades, the lawsuit is about far more than the five-year period covered in the complaint.

"The packers have controlled the destiny of beef for decades upon decades," Crook County rancher Tyler Lindholm told Cowboy State Daily. "It's getting to the point where people are starting to push back."

State Sen. Ogden Driskill, R-Devils Tower, said the current market is the product of decades of declining competition.

"Our federal government has allowed our federal packing industry to go from the big 12 to the big 10 to now the big four," Driskill said.

With a dozen major packers competing, coordinating prices would have been far more difficult, he said. Today, with only four dominant players, ranchers are left with few options for selling cattle.

"It really is high time for the government to step in and say we have to get a process that treats everybody fairly," Driskill said. "We're not asking for an upper hand. We're looking for everyone to be treated fairly."

Driskill blamed what he called a "very, very failed federal bureaucracy" for allowing market concentration to reach its current level.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Not Every Rancher Is Convinced"}]

Not everyone in Wyoming's cattle industry believes the allegations will hold up.

Laramie County rancher Mark Eisele said he remains skeptical that the major packers have engaged in coordinated misconduct.

"I'm not sure how I feel about this lawsuit," Eisele told Cowboy State Daily. "I would like to see what comes from this."

After decades in the cattle business, Eisele said he has never seen evidence of retaliation or deliberate manipulation by the major packers.

[{"type":"text","text":"Court filings paint a different picture."}]

According to the plaintiffs, economic modeling shows ranchers were underpaid by nearly 7% during the period covered by the lawsuit because the packers coordinated slaughter schedules and managed beef inventories to suppress cattle prices while increasing wholesale beef prices.

Lindholm said he believes market behavior itself supports those allegations.

He pointed to the Trump administration's approval of roughly 2 million additional pounds of beef imports from Argentina, saying a significant increase in imported beef should have softened domestic prices if the market were functioning normally.

"By all expectations, having an insane amount of beef imported from a country should have moved the beef prices here. It did not," Lindholm said. "Some might call that a conspiracy. But the proof is there. You can see it in the market."

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"More Harm Than Good?"}]

Eisele, however, questioned whether repeated class-action lawsuits are driven more by financial incentives than by wrongdoing.

If plaintiffs prevail, attorneys could receive more than one-third of any award, he noted.

[{"type":"text","text":"Activists often follow the same pattern of suing and settling, he said."}]

He suggested that previous settlements, including one involving JBS, reflected business decisions rather than admissions of wrongdoing.

[{"type":"text","text":"\"It was a pressure point,\" he said."}]

Meanwhile, Eisele worries the industry faces another challenge altogether: shrinking cattle supplies.

Some large packing plants are already slowing production or closing facilities because there simply aren't enough cattle moving through the system, he said.

"Cattle producers need to be real careful of what they wish for," Eisele said.

If additional plants close, ranchers could find themselves with even fewer places to process cattle.

"We're starting to paint ourselves into a dangerous corner on this," he said.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"A Difficult Case To Win"}]

Even if the allegations are justified, Driskill said he believes proving them in court will be difficult.

"They have deep pockets," he said of the meatpackers. "They're going to have the better lawyers."

Price-fixing cases are notoriously difficult because plaintiffs must show competitors acted together rather than making similar business decisions independently.

Regardless of the lawsuit's outcome, Driskill said Congress should revisit the Packers and Stockyards Act to strengthen protections for independent producers and smaller regional packing plants.

He would also like to see policymakers encourage enough competition to return the industry to something closer to the days when 10 or 12 significant packers competed for cattle.

"Let's break it up and get rid of these huge multinational conglomerates," he said.

Lindholm said the only way to do that is to look at the existing regulatory structure. The Federal Meat Inspection Act currently blocks states from controlling the meatpacking industry.

“What is allowing these big four to capture so much (business) under one umbrella?” Lindholm said. “That’s the key … Congress needs to go break the back of the packers.”

A federal judge has OK'd a class-action price-fixing lawsuit against the nation’s four largest meatpackers. "The packers have controlled the destiny of beef for decades," Crook County rancher Tyler Lindholm said. "People are starting to push back."

Daily Darwin: Tuesday, December 6, 2022

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