The Justice Department says that it is investigating potential antitrust violations in the beef and cattle markets after beef prices hit record highs. The average cost of a pound of ground beef was $6.86 in March, only three cents down from February’s record, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis . That represents a surge of nearly 48% in the last five years. During a press conference this week, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche confirmed President Trump had ordered an investigation into the beef industry last November that is now underway. In his speech, ​Blanche confirmed more than 3 million documents were being reviewed as part of the probe. He also urged whistleblowers to report possible price-fixing, bid-rigging, market allocation or procurement fraud with the prospect of receiving money in return. ​ “If the information you provide helps us secure a criminal penalty in excess of $1 million, you can be entitled to recover and receive 15-30% of the money that we recover,” he said.…