President Donald Trump announced that he is paving the way to allow farmers to self-process food, he posted to Truth Social on Friday.
The president said that he has “heard that [farmers and ranchers] 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?” Trump said. With beef alone, four companies handle the vast majority of meat processing in the United States, according to Investigate Midwest.
“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,” he continued. “This should move quickly.”
Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins explained that it could translate to “waiving red tape in processing” and “growing real support for small processors,” among other changes that are expected to be made public on Monday.
We are on it Mr. President!
— Secretary Brooke Rollins (@SecRollins) August 28, 2026
Our great AMERICAN ranchers produce the highest-quality, most incredible beef in the world AND it is a matter of national security that we be able to feed and fuel ourselves.
Big announcements starting Monday — including:
✔️ waiving red tape in… https://t.co/dDSHH3dnFV
“We are on it Mr. President!” Rollins posted.
“Our great AMERICAN ranchers produce the highest-quality, most incredible beef in the world AND it is a matter of national security that we be able to feed and fuel ourselves,” she added, saying that “The world is hungry for American beef!”
The move comes after the Trump administration received pushback for announcing a push to import 300,000 metric tons of beef for the next three months in order for it to “be sold at 25 percent below current market prices,” the president wrote at the time.
“This deal will reduce prices for Americans while giving space for our Great American Beef Herd to grow again,” he wrote.
Some Republicans publicly disagreed with the decision.
“The President’s heart is in the right place on wanting lower prices for the American people, and beef prices have been impacted by the Mexican screwworm,” Sen. Tim Sheehy (R-MT) posted. “But the reality is this action will make it more difficult for American ranchers to rebuild our herd and bring prices down for the American people. And most importantly, this will harm our ranching families who feed the nation.”
However, on the Friday meat processing announcement, Sheehy said that “ranchers like this news!”
Ranchers like this news! 🇺🇸 https://t.co/3Istcwd3fX pic.twitter.com/WSrxVDIi9V
— Tim Sheehy (@TimSheehyMT) August 28, 2026
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