President Donald Trump signed two executive orders aimed at giving U.S. ranchers greater access to meat processing and interstate markets while directing federal agencies to reconsider regulations affecting the industry, including protections governing gray and Mexican wolves.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
President Donald Trump signed two executive orders Friday launching a broad overhaul of federal policies affecting American ranchers, directing the Department of Agriculture to expand opportunities for producers to process and sell their own meat across state lines while separately ordering a government-wide review of regulations affecting the cattle industry and livestock losses from wolves.
Trump signed the measures at an event alongside ranchers and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, presenting the actions as an effort to give producers more control over processing, increase competition in the meat industry and reduce costs between the ranch and the consumer.
“Today, I’m thrilled to announce that my administration is taking historic action to help our nation’s great cattle ranchers and deliver American meat processed to the highest standard … there will be no standard higher in the world, and sold at the lowest prices directly to the consumer,” Trump said.
The first order does not simply eliminate federal food-safety rules or immediately allow any rancher to sell self-processed meat nationwide without inspection. Instead, it directs Rollins and the Agriculture Department to modify federal programs, licensing, inspections and interstate-shipment procedures to make it easier for eligible ranchers and smaller processors to reach consumers beyond their home states.
“So for the first time ever, we’re going to give farmers and ranchers the right to process their own food. That’s a big announcement,” Trump said.
The administration is seeking to reduce ranchers’ dependence on the country’s largest meat-processing companies, which Trump characterized as exercising “a monopoly” over the processing industry.
Trump said the expanded processing system would continue to include “very strong safety inspections,” making clear that increasing access to smaller and producer-operated processing facilities would be accompanied by federal food-safety oversight.
Under the White House plan for expanding meat-processing and interstate-market access, Rollins is directed to pursue several changes simultaneously.
One component focuses on competition.
The Agriculture Department is instructed to give greater priority to investigations involving possible violations of the Packers and Stockyards Act, commit additional federal resources to enforcement and review existing policies to determine whether protections for livestock producers should be strengthened.
The administration also wants penalties and enforcement mechanisms under the law to provide what it considers an effective deterrent against unfair, deceptive or anticompetitive conduct in livestock markets.
A second portion of the order addresses federal meat inspections.
USDA is directed to modernize the inspection system by concentrating federal requirements on core food-safety functions while identifying rules that the administration considers unnecessarily burdensome or unrelated to essential safety objectives.
The order calls for increased processing efficiency and greater use of technology while reducing costs associated with meat production and processing.
Trump’s administration argues that those changes could allow ranchers to capture more of the value of the livestock they raise while also potentially lowering processing expenses that are ultimately reflected in consumer meat prices.
Another major element is designed specifically to help smaller producers navigate federal inspection and licensing programs.
Rollins is instructed to establish a “one stop shop” resource within USDA, accompanied by a dedicated coordinator position.
The resource is intended to help producers obtain information about federal licensing, connect them with available inspection programs and provide training and assistance to small and very small meat processors.
USDA is also being directed to increase interstate market opportunities for qualifying meat products.
That includes streamlining participation in existing programs that allow state-inspected processors to gain access to broader markets while maintaining applicable inspection standards.
The administration specifically identified the State Meat and Poultry Inspection Program, Cooperative Interstate Shipment Program and Talmadge-Aiken Cooperative Inspection Program as mechanisms that could be expanded or made easier for states and processors to use.
Those programs provide different arrangements through which federal and state governments oversee meat inspection.
The order therefore seeks to broaden the number of producers capable of legally selling inspected products across state boundaries rather than relying exclusively on the largest federally inspected processing facilities.
Financing represents another part of the initiative.
USDA is directed to establish a new “Strengthening Processing for U.S. Ranchers” loan program intended to support small and regional meat processors.
The loans are designed to help existing processors remain in operation, increase processing capacity, expand geographically and handle a broader range of animal proteins.
Increasing the number and capacity of smaller processing facilities could give cattle producers more alternatives when deciding where their animals are processed.
The administration’s focus on processing concentration reflects longstanding concerns among some ranchers about the market power of the largest meatpacking companies.
Trump said his plan would create a path for producers to bypass the four major processing companies that dominate substantial portions of the market and instead move their livestock through smaller or more locally controlled processing operations.
The second executive order signed Friday takes a broader approach to the ranching industry.
Under the White House directive supporting American ranchers, multiple federal agencies are being instructed to review regulations, guidance and policies affecting ranchers and recommend changes intended to improve their financial viability and access to markets.
The review extends beyond USDA.
Federal officials are expected to examine regulatory policies affecting ranchers across agencies and determine whether existing requirements should be revised, eliminated or modernized.
Predator management is one of the most significant components of that order.
The administration is directing the Interior Department to examine the federal status of gray wolves and Mexican wolves under the Endangered Species Act.
Federal officials must determine whether either population has met established recovery criteria that could support changing its protected status.
If the Interior Department concludes that those criteria have been satisfied, the order directs the agency to begin the process of delisting or downlisting the affected wolf population.
Delisting would remove a population from protections under the Endangered Species Act, while downlisting could move it to a less restrictive protected classification.
The order also calls for examination of rules governing lethal removal of wolves that threaten livestock or human safety.
That review could result in revisions to federal regulations or guidance governing when authorities may permit wolves to be killed in response to predation.
The administration is seeking greater flexibility for ranchers dealing with attacks on cattle and other livestock, including faster responses when federal officials determine that predators pose an immediate threat.
Those provisions are particularly relevant in western ranching regions where recovering wolf populations and livestock operations overlap.
The order does not itself immediately remove federal protections from gray or Mexican wolves. Rather, it directs the Interior Department to determine whether the legal and biological requirements for changing their status have been met and, if so, to begin the applicable regulatory process.
Together, the two executive actions address several different stages of cattle production.
The meat-processing order concentrates on what happens after livestock leave the ranch, seeking more processing competition, expanded inspection pathways, additional financing and greater access to consumers across state lines.
The second order focuses more broadly on the conditions under which ranchers operate, including federal regulations, market access and the losses producers can experience from predators.
For ranchers seeking alternatives to major processors, the most immediate administrative changes will now depend on how USDA implements Trump’s directives.
Rollins must develop the new processing assistance infrastructure, review inspection policies, increase Packers and Stockyards Act enforcement resources and establish the loan program for regional and small-scale processors.
Federal agencies must also determine how existing interstate-shipment programs can accommodate additional producers without abandoning the food-safety requirements that Trump said will remain central to the new system.
The wolf provisions will proceed on a separate regulatory track through the Interior Department and the Endangered Species Act.
Trump’s two orders consequently do more than address a single ranching issue. They place meat processing, market concentration, interstate commerce, federal inspection, financing, regulation and predator management within a broader administration effort to change how the federal government interacts with cattle producers.
The practical scope of those changes will ultimately depend on the regulations, program modifications and agency decisions that follow the orders.
For ranchers, however, the administration’s stated objective is clear: expand the number of ways producers can bring American-raised meat from their livestock to consumers while reducing their dependence on the largest processors and giving them greater flexibility to protect their herds.
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