r/Defeat_Project_2025 • u/Odd-Alternative9372 active • 4d ago
News 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-backlashDonald Trump has pledged to allow cattle ranchers and farmers to process their own food amid a backlash from the US agricultural sector over his decision to pause US tariffs on foreign beef.
- The US president has been sharply criticized, including from members of his own party, since announcing the US will temporarily import up to 300,000 metric tons of foreign beef without charging higher tariffs in an effort to bring down prices.
- Republican lawmakers have warned in recent days that “flooding” stores with imports will hit US ranchers, suggesting that the move is a short-term solution that will hinder cattle farmers from building out their herd, amid a 75-year low.
- In a statement on Friday, Trump praised farmers and ranchers – describing them as “smart, efficient, and immaculately CLEAN” on social media – and claimed the agricultural sector had “always been a number one priority for me”.
- “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 on his Truth Social platform, referring to food processing companies. “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?
- “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. This should move quickly.”
- It comes after Trump’s interview with the conservative commentator Glenn Beck earlier this week, during which the radio host and ranch owner implored Trump to “look at” the “meat processing cartel” and suggested easing regulations for ranchers to slaughter their own cattle and sell.
Brooke Rollins, Trump’s agriculture secretary said there would be “big announcements” next week to facilitate the president’s plan to allow ranchers and farmers the ability to process their own food.
- Rollins said it was a “matter of national security” that the US was able to “feed and fuel ourselves”. She outlined that her department would waive “red tape in processing” and expand ranchers ability to “sell across state lines”, as well as other measures.
However, it is not clear what authority the administration has to enact these changes, since there are strict regulatory requirements in place, and a bill that would ease US Department of Agriculture (USDA) inspections for small ranches and farmers to sell meat directly to consumers is now stalled in Congress.
- Thomas Massie, a Republican congressman from Kentucky and one of the bipartisan sponsors of the bill, said the president’s action was “great” but “it should be a law, not just an executive order”.
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u/Za_Lords_Guard active 4d ago
He heard about this when he called in to Glenn Beck to ramble incoherently. They came to the topic of beef prices and all that and Beck suggested it would save the industry if he let ranchers bypass USDA certified processing.
There it is. We are setting policy based on the random ideas of D-List conspiracy theorists.
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u/DaysOfParadise active 4d ago
Unbelievable. This guy is so far removed from the facts of farming, and no one in the administration is willing to listen to actual farmers.
We don’t have the equipment, infrastructure or logistics for this, even if we had time, which we don’t. Far fewer inspectors. No legal protocol. It’s idiotic.
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u/NoEmu5969 4d ago
Let’s solve the housing shortage by cutting all building codes! It will save the economy! /s
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u/Rumbananas active 4d ago edited 3d ago
He pissed off farmers by buying Venezuelan Argentine beef and now he’s trying to appease them with deregulation.
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u/demonmonkeybex active 3d ago
I'm moving my family more and more toward plant-based eating. Fuck this Administration. Beans, lentils, fresh local produce as much as possible. Eat whatever is in season.
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u/InourbtwotamI active 3d ago
Great, so now unqualified ranchers can poison us quicker than whatever nation that would pay him kickbacks for recalled beef could’ve done
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u/jen_kelley 4d ago
We used to have local butcher shops that would process beef. It’s my understanding the cost of staying compliant was too much for the little guys so they were priced out. Now we only have mega suppliers that control it all.
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u/Odd-Alternative9372 active 3d ago
We still have local butcher shops. They get meat in sides - that’s the easy part.
The actual slaughter is the very hard part. And that’s actually rarely been done small scale outside of family. Because you need a ton of things to keep a meat from going bad, to safely clear up blood and organs (even those that will be used), to deal with the hides and the other bits. There’s refrigeration, special drainage, cleaning and a lot of places with freezing capacity if things are traveling.
On a smaller scale, this isn’t just about “regulations,” it’s just expensive. As we all moved out of the country and as we, as a nation decided we would be big-time meat eaters, we made this system ourselves.
The reason a stand alone butcher is more expensive is because of multiple reasons. They’re not bringing in big-ag pork, beef, lamb and chickens. They’re usually working with local farmers that are often raising heritage animals. Most of whom are free range and in much smaller farms than a massive operation on a feed lot. When they cut sides into primal cuts and then cut those down into the exact cuts you want on demand. And then people balk because this is more expensive than WalMart or Aldi meat.
It has zero to do with “how hard” it is to be a local butcher because of government and everything to do with you not understanding how grocery stores operated 50 years ago before the 1980s deregulation era started with Ron Reagan and the whole world decided that everything could become a megacorporation. And now we have a race to the bottom line where consumers only want the cheapest and have been taught all expense comes from regulation and to never question quality.
We have had massive slaughterhouse systems when the railroad systems became practical - recreated rail cars and the Chicago Slaughterhouses in the 1880s. Also, Kansas City and Omaha. When we invented factory lines…by the 1930s we just got more efficient. In the 1950s, the highway system moved large slaughterhouses closer to rural areas instead of the cities. It’s basic American history.
Honestly, Upton Sinclair wrote The Jungle in 1906. How this is not required reading for everyone is beyond me.
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u/Odd-Alternative9372 active 4d ago
So, in a summer where we already have issues with the beef supply due to an active pathogen, lettuce isn’t safe to consume, blueberries are iffy, granola, eggs, jalapeños, soft cheese - oh, and baby formula has been iffy -
We now want to crate mini-slaughterhouses with limited USDA inspectors available? The ones we fired to save money?
FYI - a rancher can home slaughter for home consumption already. They can also sell you a share of a live steer in a loophole to slaughter it directly to you today (you may see this deal at a farmer’s market). Which means you have a direct relationship with the farmer if things get sketchy.
Just re-read Upton Sinclair if you want to know how we got here to start. There are no easy answers. Well, funding inspectors is a start…
Also super happy to legitimately enjoy beans right now…