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President Donald Trump said Friday that he will make it easier for ranchers to process their own meat, in an effort to weaken the control the nation’s four largest meatpacking firms have over the process.
The move comes shortly after Trump was pressed on the issue by conservative radio host Glenn Beck, who urged him during an interview to “break the back of those processing plans” by easing regulations on ranchers.
Trump has faced harsh blowback in recent days from cattle ranchers and rural Republican lawmakers over his decision to temporarily pause tariffs on imported ground beef — a policy aimed at lowering prices for consumers that has nonetheless enraged domestic meat producers.
“Ranchers and Farmers have always been a number one priority for me,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post Friday morning vowing to ease meat processing rules. “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.”
It’s unclear how exactly Trump plans to alter the regulations on meat processing, which require that processors meet strict safety and sanitation requirements and undergo regular inspections to be able to sell their meat to the public.
Smaller ranchers are permitted to slaughter and process their own meat but cannot sell it unless they meet those regulatory requirements.
In a separate post on X, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins vowed to roll out new initiatives starting Monday, including efforts to rescind “outdated guidance,” waive red tape and expand ranchers’ ability to sell across state lines. She also hinted at boosting funding for smaller meat processing operations.
“We are on it Mr. President,” Rollins wrote in response to Trump’s Truth Social post. “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.”
Still, there was little immediate indication that easing processing rules would quiet the furor over Trump’s earlier decision to ramp up imports of foreign ground beef.
The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, which has led the vocal opposition to the beef import move, wrote on X Friday that “weakening federal meat inspection & food safety standards isn’t the answer.”
“America’s cattle producers have earned consumer trust in U.S. beef over generations,” the group said. “That trust, and the gold standard food safety system behind it, shouldn’t be put at risk for a short-term political fix.”
Politicians in both parties — including Trump and former President Joe Biden — have long vowed to target the major meatpacking companies, faulting consolidation for driving up prices and allowing four big processors to control the vast majority of the beef industry.
But the government has taken only limited steps so far, and both Biden and Trump have struggled to reshape the industry’s competitive dynamics.
In his interview with Beck on Wednesday, Trump floated the prospect of eliminating regulations after Beck complained that “the inspections are insane” and that “the regulations are killing us.”
“So you’re saying, with less regulation, you think that the ranchers and farmers would do a very good job of processing the beef?” Trump asked.
After Beck responded that they would, Trump said: “Wow. I’m going to look at that today.”
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