Just before kicking off a weekend famous for grilling, President Donald Trump signed orders Friday afternoon hoping to lower stubbornly high beef prices nationwide. The high prices aren’t benefiting ranchers, who have thinned their herds to historic lows.
Saying consumers and ranchers are being “overcharged by monopolistic practices in the meat processing industry,” the president’s new order allows cattle ranchers to process, package and sell their own beef across state lines.
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“The Livestock industry’s been ripped off by a meatpacking monopoly,” Trump said. “They were charging them numbers that were unsustainable.”
Four U.S. companies — Tyson, JBS, Cargill and National Beef — make up most of the U.S. meat processing market.
The order instructs the U.S. Department of Agriculture to expand licensing and inspection for small beef processors, allow ranchers to sell eligible products in other states and promote participation in shipment cooperatives.
“This is the signal to our ranchers, the signal to rural America, but really the signal to the world, that American ranching and American farmers are back,” Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said Friday.
Will it help?
While the order could help ranchers sell beef, the large-scale industry pressures on the farms will remain.
Ranchers currently have a historically low monthly rate of 25 billion fed-cattle slaughter, according to the USDA’s Aug. 18 situation outlook report. Fed cattle are used to produce beef seen in the grocery store. Next year’s beef production forecast is flat.
High feed costs, water scarcity and rising property values have all led to thinning herds. Straight Arrow recently reported that Tyson announced it would close processing plants in Illinois and Utah, resulting in thousands of job losses.
Safety concerns
Trump had previously telegraphed the order to allow for more processors to break up what he called a monopoly.
An industry group told Straight Arrow that a broad expansion of small meat processors will put consumers at risk.
“America’s farmers and ranchers already have multiple pathways to process and market the livestock they raise that can be leveraged to achieve the goals stated by the President,” The Meat Institute said in late August. “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 order stresses that federal efforts will be prefaced by a modernized meat inspection system.
Foreign beef labels
The order also tasks a USDA review on foreign product labeling that could lead to stricter disclosure requirements. The shift was met favorably by some Republicans who have pushed bills to do as much.
“It’s about time consumers get the transparency they deserve, and our producers get to compete on a level playing field,” said Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., in a post to X. “The government needs to cut the red tape and get out of the way so ranchers can invest in delivering premium beef for consumers.”
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