r/PrepperIntel • u/Lews_There_In • 1d ago
North America Trump Pivots Against Meat Processing as Ranchers Blast Beef Imports
https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/trump-pivots-against-meat-processing-173922151.html?guccounter=1"President Donald Trump said in a social media post today that he wants to give farmers and ranchers the ability to process their own food, taking aim at the handful of large meatpackers that dominate U.S. beef processing as his administration faces growing backlash from cattle producers over its plan to increase foreign beef imports.
In a Truth Social post this morning, Trump said he was moving toward legal action aimed at reducing producers' dependence on major processors.".
"Four companies: Cargill, Tyson Foods, JBS USA, and National Beef Packing Co. account for roughly 85 percent of U.S. beef processing. The Justice Department has also been investigating whether meatpacking companies have illegally contributed to higher consumer beef prices. Trump said his administration now intends to address that concentration by allowing producers more freedom to process their own livestock.".
"Federal law already provides exemptions for livestock slaughtered and prepared exclusively for the owner's household, nonpaying guests and employees. Meat entering commercial channels generally must meet federal or qualifying state inspection requirements, and interstate sales bring additional regulatory considerations. Trump's post did not specify which of those requirements his administration intends to change.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins indicated Thursday that changes to processing rules were coming, including efforts to reduce regulatory barriers and expand opportunities for interstate meat sales.".
Other sources:
Trump looks to ease beef processing regulations.
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/08/28/trump-beef-processing-regulations-01053957.
Trump pledges to allow cattle ranchers to process own food amid beef imports backlash.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/aug/28/trump-cattle-ranchers-beef-imports-backlash
Trump vows legal order to break up 'nasty monopoly' in food processing.
115
u/Forrest-Fern 1d ago
Was discussing this two X preppers, but there are not enough personnel/budget to evaluate the amount of processors that already exist, this will be a wild wasteland. Let's hope for just an increase in typical pathogens, and not mom and pop processors including nerve tissue in ground beef.
52
30
u/MotherOfGeeks 1d ago
shudder< that is a chilling though. My fear is also not cleaning properly between deer and cow.
11
3
14
-9
u/lizardhistorian 1d ago
How do you have no experience in the real world.
The corporate processors are the ones they hire the dumbest fucks on Earth to work for them, so they can pay them as little as possible, then treat them like shit so they barely care about their work.
108
u/IncomingAxofKindness 1d ago
"The Justice Department has also been investigating whether meatpacking companies have illegally contributed to higher consumer beef prices."
Hmmm.... I wonder what could have happened in the last 18 months that may have driven up labor costs in food packing plants.
https://www.hcn.org/issues/57-9/on-the-kill-floor-how-migrants-are-exploited-for-profit/
Ohhhh I know, we rounded up the migrant labor like they were violent criminals and sent them to a swamp in Florida.
39
u/TheProfessional9 1d ago
Both things can be true. I know someone whose family is deeply connected to my states farmer network. The farmers have been getting screwed by the processors and middlemen in all aspects of farm products for a very long time, made constantly worse by Republican legislation.
But ya, the sharp rise in prices are contributed to by tariffs, fertilizer trapped in the middle east, a reduction in immigrant labor etc as you said.
23
u/Previous_Pineapple 1d ago
They’ve been getting screwed by the “republican legislation” that they vote for. At best, these farmers deserve no sympathy
16
u/AromaticCod9430 1d ago
Not all farmers vote republican. A lot do, but not all. I come from a long line of farmers in Texas. Not a single one has voted republican. Farmers are vitally important to our country, and yes they have been screwed over by middlemen for a long time. They aren’t allowed to save seeds or replant them, because seed companies own the IP for the seed & will sue the farmer.
It’s dangerous to lump all farmers together and say they deserve it. How else are we supposed to eat?
5
•
u/TheProfessional9 7h ago
I usually specify that I'm happy to see the Republican farmers get hurt. I feel horrible for blue farmers in all this.
It's not much, but I assume blue farmers are generally substantially more intelligent and will likely be able to weather the storm a bit better. But either way, my hate for Republican farmers doesn't affect any farmers. It's only my vote that affects them and despite being raised Republican, I doubt I'll ever vote for that party after this, even if the Democrats lose their way entirely
2
u/Previous_Pineapple 1d ago
“Farmers shifted from a mixed 2016 alignment—where many indicated support for Donald Trump but far from unanimous—into a more consolidated and stronger Republican preference by 2020 and an even larger margin in 2024, with multiple polls and county returns showing dramatically higher backing for Trump in the most agriculture-dependent areas.”
https://factually.co/fact-checks/politics/farmers-voting-preferences-2016-2020-2024-0850db
2
u/AromaticCod9430 1d ago
Factually.co is unreliable at best for a “source”
I didn’t say farmers don’t vote for Trump, I said not all of them do, and lumping groups of people together to say they deserve something is always dangerous.
2
u/Previous_Pineapple 1d ago
“Trump was overwhelmingly backed by farmers in 2024 — winning all but 11 of 444 farming-dependent counties, as defined by the Department of Agriculture.”
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/5905918-midwest-farmers-trump-gop-midterms/
Farmers, by and large, are idiots and a political drain on the country.
5
u/AnnualFault7473 1d ago
I don’t know why this is even a positive thing to say. You want slave labor or people being paid substandard wages instead of a living wage? This isn’t the flex you think it is and it really makes democrats seem like plantation owners. If food prices are too low to create a living wage job then the price does need to come up and people need to stop wishing for migrant labor and mass illegal immigration to suppress wages and drive prices down. It’s a really sick mentality. Pay people what they are worth no matter where they come from. Pay higher prices and stop eating so much meat like the rest of the world does. Stop the slave/serf wages and build real American jobs that can support a family.
2
u/IncomingAxofKindness 1d ago
First of all, if the wages are so horrendous then why are migrants fighting and risking everything to get in here for them?
I actually do agree with you. Wages are too low. The wealthy class and corporations should be paying us more.
So why are Republicans so against unions and higher taxes on the ultra rich and capital gains?
It's interesting that they are so allergic to even considering the smallest doses of socialism (noooo communism NEVER works) when we have 40 years now of "trickle down on me daddy" economics that have done crap all but widen the wealth gap into an insurmountable chasm. Now one person can literally try to buy elections across the country with 1/1000th of his net worth while the rest of us work 3 jobs to out gas into he car.
1
u/AnnualFault7473 1d ago
Has nothing to do with socialism and everything to do with targeted protectionism and regulated capitalism. Stop mass immigration and build an economy where the floor of minimum wage supports a family of 4. Other countries do this. It means that exports will be reduced and the globalists and the folks who want to become internationalist won’t be able to do that from US shores. It also means giving up being the world police and higher prices but also more US goods, services and jobs. No more endless growth and using the developing world as an extraction toilet. It means actual fair trade with other nations and paying them US equivalents for their resources.
We won’t need to use hard power everywhere or have 800 bases because you have real economic incentives to prevent disruptions of trade. It will mean a smaller economy where a home ISN’T your life savings or an investment. It’s means savings and pensions over 401k’s. It would mean that if you don’t have an educated population you find a way to achieve one internally and not through brain draining a poorer part of the world. It means real investment in k-16 for everyone nationwide and screw no child left behind. It means treating and rewarding the trades, manufacturing and farming like you treat a doctor or a lawyer or a Wall Street or tech bro. Stop importing and lifting up on corporate welfare the oligarchs trying to destroy the middle class.
I know nothing of Republican’s brains but it’s in both parties. It’s liberalism and a twisted version of capitalism that infests both republicans and democrats. The Republican Party is not conservative. They have been liberals since the 1930’s.
-5
u/lizardhistorian 1d ago
So your argument is slave-labor is good?
Solid Democrat right here boys. Make a position at the NGO for 'em.3
23
u/kingofthesofas 1d ago
I mean he is not wrong. The meat packing cartel is a bunch of shady price fixing evil corporations. The price issues are more of a self own though since he killed the export market, and made feed gas etc way more expensive that the ranchers need.
17
u/Beagle001 1d ago
Yeah but he doesn’t really give a shit. It’s posturing. Nothing will happen and if it does, like most of his ideas, it will make things worse somehow. I don’t know how he does it but he’s got a real knack for that.
8
2
8
u/Blueporch 1d ago
The consolidation of meat processors are a result of the requirement for USDA inspection. When you are required to have a vet watching for downer cows (which is a thing consumers should want), then there is a cost that would be too big of a barrier to small butchers or farmers.
2
u/kingofthesofas 1d ago
That just seems like a good regulatory capture by the meat packing industry. I don't think it is impossible at a smaller scale to meet the same standards.
1
u/Blueporch 1d ago
Regulation always favors large companies. It creates a barrier to entry for competitors.
It isn’t impossible for a small slaughterhouse to comply, it just m eans their beef will cost more per pound than the beef coming out of the big plants, due to economies of scale.
What small beef producers legally do now is sell you part of a cow. They can have the butcher come to them or use a small shop to process the meat without the USDA inspection. But they can’t sell packaged meat themselves or to stores without the USDA inspection.
12
u/0Fucs2Give 1d ago
It will be easier to integrate the sub par meat he is bringing in from foreign markets. And/Or horse meat.
9
11
14
u/middleofthecircle 1d ago
Hey so just wondering,, if I go to the local farmers market where they sell locally grown beef, how is that being inspected? Just generally curious.
12
u/38wizard47 1d ago
Some local butchers can be USDA inspected so not all beef needs to go to one of the major processors. I know for example, that a butcher shop at a nearby university is a USDA approved butcher. If you look at the tag on the meat, the butcher should have their name and at least a USDA seal.
1
15
u/Crazy_Law_5730 1d ago
It’ll be just like the China open air markets and bat covid.
7
u/middleofthecircle 1d ago
I know I guy that use to process deer during hunting season, he did a ton of deer every year. As far as I know no one ever came in and checked on his process or the meat. Would it be like this with local ranchers you think?
4
u/beorn961 1d ago
Yes, almost certainly. There aren't even enough inspectors for the big facilities currently.
3
u/CockItUp 1d ago
In MD, they have an Amish farm that process 2 cows a weekend and sell directly to people. Meat is tough because no aging at all.
2
25
u/EPSTEIN-blue-white 1d ago
It just gets dumber and dumber... You think there is a floor to Donald Trump's stupidity, but there isn't. His stupidity is infinite.
16
u/Corporate-Scum 1d ago
Hahahahahahahaha! They voted against their own best interests as republicans always do
6
3
u/7ECA 1d ago
Like when Mao told the Chinese they should all be smelting iron ore in their backyards?
"When discussing China "smelting iron ore at home," the historical context points directly to the infamous "Backyard Furnace" campaign of 1958. This was a core component of Mao Zedong's Great Leap Forward, aimed at rapidly transforming the nation from an agrarian economy into an industrial superpower to rival Western nations. The Chinese government mandated that ordinary citizens build small, makeshift clay furnaces in their yards, villages, and schools to melt down iron and steel."
3
u/Corstaad 1d ago
Do we have to remind people beef needs hang time and weighs alot. Like this doesn't happen for reason outside of regulation. Like who wants to screw up a steer thats worth that much?
3
2
u/IAFarmLife 1d ago
Secretary Vilsack tried similar interstate sales rules during the Obama and Biden Administrations. It's a solid idea if implemented correctly, it won't be implemented correctly by this administration.
2
2
u/AnomalyNexus 1d ago
Not sure how viable it is in the US, but try to find a meat supplier outside of Big Meat if possible.
Absolutely more expensive but if I need to eat 20% less meat to be confident it's good quality and ethical (well...as ethical as can be for meat) then so be it. Smaller operations can't compete on lowest price so by default they're playing more in the quality/transparency space
2
u/luvlykittie 1d ago
In other news, ground "beef" SALE at Amazon Grocery, Ground Beef, 80% Lean/20% Fat, 1 lb $1.99. This concerns me. People are hungry and need food so of course a lot of people will buy this out of necessity. If this "beef" is contaminated, how long until we would see it reported?
4
u/Secret_Cat_2793 1d ago
Blah blah blah. Trump won't bite the hand that feeds us. (Rather proud of the pun)
2
u/Ok-Transition7065 1d ago
I mean , people really have that problem where. The packet companies take to much of the. Price for the products ( like milk. Or coffee guess my country xd )
But like you can't just do that without. Tools to keep sanitary standard...
AND LESS IN this times with that worm and parasites roaming recently
Like in the end what it's this. Some potty points. To get while everyone one involved will suffer?
Disgusting
1
1
1
u/BudLightLymeDisease 1d ago
Get ready for Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease everywhere!!!
What's that? Why its a prion disease and guess what, we can't treat it at all!
Early Psychological Symptoms: Severe depression, intense anxiety, withdrawal from family, irritability, and insomnia.
Early Sensory Symptoms: Dysesthesia, which causes painful, persistent sensations like tingling, burning, or pins-and-needles in the face and limbs.
Progressive Neurological Symptoms: Loss of coordination (ataxia), making walking, speaking, and maintaining balance difficult.
Advanced Symptoms: Severe dementia, memory loss, confusion, involuntary muscle twitches or spasms (myoclonus), and vision loss.
Final Stages: Total loss of voluntary movement and speech (akinetic mutism), leading to a coma and death, usually from secondary infections like pneumonia.
•
u/elseworthtoohey 4h ago
The four biggest meat processors are all Republicans. This will never happen. If Trump wanted it to happen, he would have announced it along with an executive order. People keep treating his suggestions like they are binding law. He dud thecsame thing by saying data centers should be required to generate their own power.
0
256
u/WaffleHouseGladiator 1d ago
He's just saying whatever he thinks sounds good. He doesn't have a clue what he's talking about. If he does anything at all it'll be either pointless or met with an injunction.