The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) has reached a consent decision with JBS USA LLC, also known as Swift Beef Co. (JBS Swift), of Greeley, Colo., for alleged violations of the Packers & Stockyards Act.

AMS conducted an investigation that revealed that JBS Swift failed to maintain and operate its dynamic monorail scales to ensure accurate weights at its Cactus, Texas facility on Aug. 9, 2016, and its Greeley facility on Dec. 1, 2016. JBS Swift used inaccurate scales to weigh beef carcasses that recorded inaccurate or incorrect weights on accountings issued to sellers.

JBS Swift was notified of such violations and immediately made adjustments, as evidenced in subsequent passing scale tests. JBS Swift paid a civil penalty of $29,000 and consented to a cease-and-desist order to maintain correct and accurate scales that records accurate and correct weights on scale tickets, internal records, kill sheets or other accounting issued to sellers of livestock.

AMS said the practice of failing to maintain a correct and accurate scale at its Cactus and Greeley beef plants -- which resulted in paying livestock sellers on inaccurate hot carcass weights -- is a violation of section 202(a) of the Packers & Stockyards Act (7 U.S.C.§ 192 (a)), section 401 (7 U.S.C.§ 221 b) and sections 201.71(a) and 201.99(b) of the regulations (9 C.F.R. §§ 201.71.and 201.99).