{"id":2652863,"date":"2026-09-01T08:01:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-01T12:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-announces-plan-to-help-ranchers-dealing-with-beef-market-hell\/"},"modified":"2026-09-01T08:16:49","modified_gmt":"2026-09-01T12:16:49","slug":"trump-announces-plan-to-help-ranchers-dealing-with-beef-market-hell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-announces-plan-to-help-ranchers-dealing-with-beef-market-hell\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump Announces Plan to Help Ranchers Dealing with Beef Market \u2018Hell\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ftrump-announces-plan-to-help-ranchers-dealing-with-beef-market-hell%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2652863&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The article discusses President Donald Trump&#8217;s recent initiative allowing farmers and ranchers to process their own meat, aiming to increase competition and break up the dominant meat processing industry. While some cattle producers see this as a potential benefit, they acknowledge significant economic and regulatory challenges for smaller processors. Experts emphasize that autonomous processing alone may not resolve industry-wide issues, which are rooted in economies of scale and consolidation among large meatpackers like Tyson and Smithfield. Investigations into potential antitrust violations are ongoing against major industry players.Additionally, the management is working to address high beef prices and declining domestic cattle supply, including temporarily increasing imports and considering measures to support smaller processors and reduce regulatory barriers.However, questions remain about the feasibility and safety of processing meat independently under federal inspection requirements.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><br \/>\n<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\"><br \/>\n<?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><html><body><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (REP_0)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>President Donald Trump\u2019s Friday push to let farmers and ranchers process their own meat received mixed reviews from cattle producers who said expanding independent processing could help ranchers but would not address all of the economic problems that have squeezed them.<\/p>\n<p class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__paragraph\">Trump authorized legal documents Friday allowing farmers and ranchers to process their own meat, <a class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__link\" href=\"https:\/\/truthsocial.com\/@realDonaldTrump\/posts\/117173109426335170\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">saying<\/a> the move would help break up what he called a \u201cnasty Monopoly\u201d among major meat processors. Ranchers who spoke with the Daily Caller News Foundation said the proposal could give producers another option for bringing their cattle to market, but warned that smaller processors still faced significant economic and regulatory hurdles that could limit their ability to compete with the industry\u2019s largest packers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__paragraph\">\u201cI\u2019ve been in this 50 plus years, and I\u2019ve made decent money in about six of those, and the rest of the time it\u2019s been hell,\u201d Kansas cattle producer Mike Schultz told the DCNF.<\/p>\n<p class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__paragraph\">Schultz, a longtime Kansas cattle producer and founder of the Kansas Cattlemen\u2019s Association, said the industry\u2019s problems could not be reduced to a shortage of processing capacity.<\/p>\n<p class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__paragraph\">Schultz advocated for reforms intended to increase competition among cattle buyers, including restricting meatpacker ownership or control of cattle, eliminating certain confidentiality rules governing cattle-price reporting, ending alternative marketing agreements and requiring greater public disclosure of cattle prices.<\/p>\n<p class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__paragraph\">\u201cMost of the feeders do not sell, do not get, four bids,\u201d Schultz said. \u201cMost people are committed. They get a bid, and they\u2019re committed to a packer.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__paragraph\">Schultz said giving ranchers greater access to independent processing could nevertheless be useful because it would create another avenue for producers to bring their cattle to market.<\/p>\n<p class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__paragraph\">\u201cMore independent processing is important but it\u2019s only one part,\u201d Schultz said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__paragraph\">John Nalivka, president of Sterling Marketing and a longtime livestock-market analyst, similarly cautioned against treating independent processing as a standalone solution to the industry\u2019s competitive problems.<\/p>\n<p class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__paragraph\">\u201cThis whole issue of economies of scale is very important in this industry,\u201d Nalivka said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__paragraph\">Large meat processors can spread labor, equipment, regulatory and other operating costs across much larger volumes of production, creating an economic advantage that smaller facilities struggled to overcome.<\/p>\n<p class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__paragraph\">\u201cThe Packers have consolidated so much into fewer Packers having a larger  of the market,\u201d Nalivka said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__paragraph\">Nalivka said ranchers already could have their cattle processed at smaller local facilities, meaning the practical question facing Trump\u2019s proposal was not simply whether ranchers could process their own meat, but whether they could do so economically and then get that product to consumers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__paragraph\">\u201cThe key is you\u2019ve got to have federal inspection for food safety,\u201d Nalivka said.<\/p>\n<div>Small processors also faced challenges competing with larger facilities for workers, Nalivka said. Ranchers who used smaller processors and sold their beef directly to consumers could also face higher costs than consumers purchasing comparable products through traditional grocery stores.<\/div>\n<p class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__paragraph\">The meatpacking industry faced scrutiny over whether consolidation reduced competition in the cattle market, with companies including Tyson Foods and Smithfield Foods controlling significant portions of the nation\u2019s meat-processing capacity, according to <a class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/graphics\/2026-beef-prices-cattle-supply-chain\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Bloomberg<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__paragraph\">Attorney General Todd Blanche announced an <a class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/opa\/video\/acting-attorney-blanche-announces-antitrust-investigations-meatpacking-operations\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">investigation<\/a> of the meatpacking industry over potential antitrust violations, adding to longstanding concerns among ranchers that a small number of large processors wielded too much influence over the market. There has been investigative activity\u2014including document review, interviews, public statements and coordination with the USDA\u2014but no major enforcement outcomes, such as indictments, a formal complaint against the Big Four or a resolution to the investigation as of this writing.<\/p>\n<p class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__paragraph\">Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton opened a parallel investigation working alongside the DOJ.<\/p>\n<p class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__paragraph\">Trump previously drew the ire of cattle producers when he floated importing beef from Argentina, with ranchers warning that additional foreign supply could undermine American cattle producers, according to <a class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/us\/trump-plan-import-argentine-beef-angers-us-farmers-2025-10-20\/?\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Reuters<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__paragraph\">Beef prices remained <a class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ers.usda.gov\/data-products\/meat-price-spreads?\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">elevated<\/a> over the past several years, putting pressure on consumers while cattle producers argued that high retail prices didn\u2019t necessarily translated into stronger profits for ranchers.<\/p>\n<div>Trump\u2019s announcement came two days after he signed a <a class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/presidential-actions\/2026\/08\/further-ensuring-affordable-beef-for-the-american-consumer\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">proclamation<\/a> temporarily increasing the amount of certain lean beef trimmings that could enter the U.S. under the lower in-quota tariff rate by 300,000 metric tons as the administration sought to address elevated beef prices and a shrinking domestic cattle supply.<\/div>\n<p class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__paragraph\">The White House said the additional imports were intended to address an immediate supply shortage while the administration worked to rebuild the domestic herd, which it said had fallen to its lowest level in 75 years. The proclamation said the U.S. Department of Agriculture expected beef production to decline by roughly 4% in 2026 from 2025 levels.<\/p>\n<p class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__paragraph\">Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said Friday that the administration would announce additional measures soon, including plans to waive red tape in meat processing, expand ranchers\u2019 ability to sell across state lines and support smaller processors.<\/p>\n<div>The administration hadn\u2019t yet provided details on what specific legal action Trump intended to take or how his proposal would interact with federal meat-inspection requirements.<\/div>\n<div class=\"disclaimer\">\n<p>All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter\u2019s byline and their DCNF affiliation. 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