By Leah Douglas, Tom Polansek and Susan Heavey
WASHINGTON, Aug 28 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday said he was preparing a legal order to allow farmers and ranchers to be given the right to process their own food aimed at breaking what he called “a nasty monopoly” among the nation’s top processors.
Trump did not name a particular food or industry in his post on Truth Social but said he was “authorizing legal documents to be drawn” quickly.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins posted on X that there would be “big announcements” related to beef processing beginning on Monday, including expanding ranchers’ ability to sell across state lines, added support for smaller meat processors and rescinding “outdated guidance.”
Earlier this week, Trump said on the Glenn Beck program that he would look into whether there are too many beef processing plant regulations.
Beck, who owns a ranch, suggested to Trump that Department of Agriculture regulations were impeding ranchers from processing their own animals, leaving them to rely on the nation’s highly consolidated meat processing industry.
Four companies control about 85% of U.S. meat processing: Cargill; Tyson Foods, JBS USA and National Beef Packing Co.
The companies did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said, “The administration is drafting several policy actions to further support those who feed the world.”
Trump’s move comes as consumers continue to face rising grocery prices ahead of November’s midterm election.
CONSOLIDATION FIGHT
Meat is inspected by the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service, which posts inspectors at meat processing plants to ensure products meet federal standards. Ranchers are generally prohibited by federal food safety laws from selling meat from animals they have slaughtered and processed themselves, with some exceptions.
Farm and ranch groups have argued for years that consolidation in the meat processing sector has made it difficult for small producers to stay afloat because there are not many companies competing to buy their cattle and they must transport their animals to USDA-inspected meat processing plants, sometimes at a high cost.
The Meat Institute, which represents meatpacking companies, said food safety could be at risk if more ranchers process their own meat.
“Allowing uninspected meat to be sold to unwitting consumers is the wrong approach, and risks undermining this country’s reputation for producing the safest meat products in the world,” the group said. “If the goal is to lower beef prices for American families, lowering food safety standards is the wrong response.”
The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, which represents ranchers, said it supports creating more opportunities for small beef processors and eliminating unnecessary regulations but warned Trump against weakening meat inspection standards.
David Anderson, agricultural economist at Texas A&M University, said that he did not think that Trump’s plan would have a significant impact on competition in the beef industry.
“The numbers on that would be so small,” he said of on-farm slaughter. “That really doesn’t change the bigger broader market at all.”
The administration of former President Joe Biden attempted to tackle consolidation in meatpacking in part through rules to promote competition and fairer pay for chicken farmers, which the Trump administration has indicated it will rescind.
Both the Biden and Trump administrations have steered funds towards supporting smaller meat processors, in an attempt to offer more options to ranchers.
Trump’s move comes as the nation’s meat processing sector grapples with a 75-year trough in supply as rising cattle costs outpace gains from soaring prices.
Trump also announced last week that more ground beef could be imported into the United States without tariffs. The Justice Department has also said it is investigating whether meatpacking companies were illegally driving up consumer beef prices.
(Reporting by Leah Douglas, Katharine Jackson, Daphne Psaledakis and Susan Heavey in Washington; additional reporting by Tom Polansek in Chicago; editing by Michelle Nichols, Chizu Nomiyama and Nick Zieminski)
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