(NAFB) – Lawmakers from South Dakota this week led an effort urging the Department of Justice to continue its investigation into the nation’s four biggest meatpackers.

Republican Senator John Thune and Republican Representative Dusty Johnson also requested that DOJ provide Congress with updates on its investigation and encouraged ongoing vigilance.

The lawmakers write, “It is critically important that producers have fair and transparent markets for the commodities they produce.”

The letter comes as last week a group of six livestock and farm groups held a rare meeting unifying the diverse backgrounds of the organizations focusing on cattle market transparency. The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association welcomed the letter.

NCBA Vice President of Government Affairs Ethan Lane says, “We have a high supply of cattle at one end of this equation and a high demand for U.S. beef at the other, but the middle is being absolutely choked by the lack of processing capacity.”