President Donald Trump announced that his administration will begin measures to cut red tape in food-processing regulations, giving local farmers and ranchers the chance to take matters into their own hands.
“Ranchers and Farmers have always been a number one priority for me. They work very hard, are smart, efficient, and immaculately CLEAN, but for years I have heard that they have had tremendous problems with the Big Processors, who many say are a nasty Monopoly,” President Trump expressed on Truth Social. “There are, essentially, 4 of them, a very non competitive number, and they make life miserable for our wonderful Farmers and Ranchers, and I can’t let that happen.”
In an effort to crack down on this oligopoly, President Trump announced he is authorizing legal documents to allow farmers and ranchers to be given the right to “PROCESS THEIR OWN FOOD.”
Trump's Crackdown on "Meat Packing Cartels"
President Trump’s announcement is part of his effort to crack down on “Foreign-Owned Meat Packing Cartels.”
In Nov. 2025, President Trump directed the Department of Justice to launch probes into the nation’s largest meat packing companies, including the “Big Four” meat packers – JBS (Brazil), Cargill, Tyson Foods, and National Beef.
According to the White House, these four companies “currently dominate 85% of the U.S. beef processing market, up from just 36% in 1980.”
Florida Farmers Can't Process Livestock For Commercial Sale
According to the University of Florida, producers must adhere to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) guidelines to sell meat from their livestock.
As part of those guidelines, producers must receive a country-of-origin label. That label is received by having their beef processed at a USDA-inspected facility.
President Trump's Controversial Beef Imports
President Trump’s commitment comes amid backlash from several ranchers and farmers who have expressed disdain for his recent authorization of 300,000 metric tons of Argentine beef imports.
“Farmers and ranchers are extremely disappointed to learn that President Trump plans to flood the American market with hundreds of millions of pounds of foreign-raised beef,” Zippy Duvall, President of the American Farm Bureau Federation, said.
