Trump Moves to Let Farmers Process Their Own Food as Four Firms Control 85%
President Donald Trump is taking aim at the meatpacking system that has frustrated American farmers and ranchers for years.
In a Friday Truth Social post, Trump said he is authorizing legal documents that would allow farmers and ranchers to process their own food. The move could give smaller producers another way to reach customers without relying entirely on the largest meatpacking companies.
Trump said independent producers have been squeezed by what he described as a system dominated by four major companies.
“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 a tremendous problem with the Big Processors, who many say are a nasty Monopoly.
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, can I?
So, in order to break this powerful monopoly, with much of its ownership based outside of the U.S., I am authorizing legal documents to be drawn in order to allow Farmers and Ranchers to be given the right to PROCESS THEIR OWN FOOD. This should move quickly.”
The market numbers explain why the announcement matters. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service, the four largest firms handle about 85 percent of steer and heifer purchases in the United States.
The agency has pointed to reduced competition, wider gaps between cattle and wholesale beef prices, and fewer local buyers as serious concerns. The four dominant companies are Cargill, Tyson Foods, JBS USA, and National Beef Packing Company.
The White House said in November 2025 that those companies control 85 percent of the U.S. beef-processing market. It also said two have foreign ownership or significant foreign control.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said major beef-processing announcements are expected to begin Monday. Reuters reported that the administration is preparing steps to expand interstate sales for ranchers, support smaller processors, and rescind outdated federal guidance.
The announcement followed Trump’s conversation with Glenn Beck. Beck urged the president to confront what he called a meat-processing cartel. Trump said he had heard “only bad” about the four-company system and agreed the issue could become a major win for ranchers.
Current law allows farmers to slaughter livestock for personal, household, employee, or nonpaying-guest use under limited exemptions. Meat sold commercially generally must pass federal inspection or an approved state inspection system.
That means the administration’s planned legal changes could be significant. However, the exact mechanism has not been released. The administration also has not said that inspection standards will be eliminated.
The Meat Institute is already warning that sales of uninspected meat could create food-safety risks. For now, the fight is over whether smaller producers can gain more access to the market while maintaining safety requirements.
The latest move builds on earlier actions. Trump ordered the Justice Department in November 2025 to investigate foreign-owned meatpackers over potential “illicit collusion, price fixing, and price manipulation.” In April, the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division reportedly launched a criminal investigation into the conduct of major meatpackers supplying American consumers.
Trump’s latest step shifts the focus from investigation alone to competition. If the plan moves forward, family farms and ranches could gain another route to market instead of remaining locked into the corporate processing system.
The announcement also came one week after Trump unveiled a temporary tariff-relief plan for additional imported ground beef intended to help lower grocery prices.