Justice Antitrust
Enforcer To Tour

WASHINGTON —(AP)— The Justice Department's chief enforcer of antitrust laws is going to Minnesota next month to meet with producers about their concerns with agribusiness mergers.

Joel Klein will be accompanied by Michael Dunn, the Agriculture Department's undersecretary for marketing and regulatory programs. Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., also may attend. The meeting is set for April 18.

``This is going to give (Klein) an opportunity to hear first-hand the concerns of ... producers all over the upper Midwest,'' said Andy McDonald, a spokesman for Sen. Paul Wellstone, D-Minn.

Klein's office is currently reviewing plans by Cargill Inc. of Minneapolis, the nation's No. 1 grain company, to buy the worldwide operations of second-ranked Continental Grain Co.

Livestock producers have long been voicing complaints about declining competition among meatpackers.