President Donald Trump said Friday he is directing legal documents to be prepared that would give American farmers and ranchers the right to process their own food, an effort he says is intended to challenge the market power of four dominant processors and return more revenue to producers.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
President Donald Trump is moving to expand the ability of American farmers and ranchers to process their own food, announcing Friday that his administration will begin preparing legal measures designed to reduce producers’ dependence on the handful of large meatpacking companies that dominate the industry.
Trump announced the initiative after weeks of renewed debate over cattle prices, meatpacking concentration and his administration’s decision to increase access to lower-cost foreign beef in an attempt to reduce grocery prices.
The president said the new policy is intended to give agricultural producers greater control over what happens to their livestock after it leaves the farm or ranch, potentially allowing them to retain revenue that would otherwise go to large processing 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,” Trump wrote.
“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?” he continued.
Trump said his response will be to create a legal pathway allowing producers themselves to perform processing work now largely controlled by major meatpacking companies.
“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,” Trump said. “This should move quickly. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DONALD J. TRUMP”
The president’s announcement comes shortly after another administration decision affecting cattle producers.
Trump last week announced a move to increase the availability of cheaper foreign meat in the United States, a policy aimed at helping reduce prices for consumers ahead of the midterm elections.
That decision has drawn opposition from some American ranchers and lawmakers who argue that bringing additional lower-cost imported beef into the domestic market could depress cattle prices and increase financial pressure on U.S. producers.
Those concerns arrive as cattlemen already say they are struggling with the economics of an industry in which a small number of meatpacking companies control much of the processing market.
Sen. Tim Sheehy, R-Mont., has highlighted the economic pressures confronting American ranchers, while Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., has also raised concerns about the financial circumstances facing producers.
Trump’s latest initiative approaches the problem from a different direction.
Instead of focusing solely on the price consumers pay at grocery stores or the amount ranchers receive when they sell cattle, the proposal would seek to alter the processing stage between the producer and consumer.
The president argues that allowing farmers and ranchers to process their own food could reduce their dependence on the four major processors he says exercise excessive control over the market.
Trump characterized that concentration as “a nasty Monopoly” and emphasized that some of the dominant processing interests are based outside the United States.
The administration has not yet provided details explaining precisely how the new processing framework would operate, which federal regulations would be changed, what inspection requirements would apply or how quickly individual producers could begin processing products under the proposed system.
Trump said only that he was “authorizing legal documents to be drawn” and predicted that the process “should move quickly.”
Any broad expansion of producer-based meat processing would have to address the federal and state food-safety, inspection and distribution rules that currently govern commercial meat production.
The policy could nevertheless represent a significant change for ranchers if it creates additional processing options outside the dominant packing companies.
The meatpacking stage is particularly important because producers generally raise the animals but do not control much of the slaughtering, processing, packaging and distribution that occurs before beef reaches grocery stores and restaurants.
By creating additional routes for farmers and ranchers to participate directly in that portion of the supply chain, the administration is seeking to shift more leverage toward agricultural producers.
The move also appears designed to answer criticism that Trump’s recent foreign-beef policy could help consumers at the expense of domestic cattlemen.
The earlier policy seeks to increase supplies and reduce retail prices, while Friday’s announcement focuses on giving U.S. producers greater ability to capture revenue from processing.
Together, the two actions reflect the administration’s attempt to address both sides of the beef market: affordability for consumers and profitability for farmers and ranchers.
Whether allowing more producer-controlled processing would meaningfully weaken the position of the largest meatpackers will depend on the final legal framework, the costs involved in establishing processing operations and the regulatory requirements producers would have to satisfy.
Trump, however, framed the issue as one of competition and economic independence for American agriculture.
His Friday announcement makes clear that the administration intends to pursue a structural change rather than rely solely on pressure against existing processors.
The next step will be the preparation of the legal documents Trump ordered, which should provide details on how the administration intends to expand processing rights and what federal requirements would govern farmers and ranchers choosing to take advantage of them.
If implemented broadly, the proposal could give livestock producers a new alternative to the major meatpacking companies at a time when the administration is simultaneously seeking lower beef prices for consumers and relief for American ranchers facing financial pressure.
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