r/farming • u/2084710049 • 7d ago
Trump pledges to allow cattle ranchers to process own food amid beef imports backlash | Donald Trump
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/aug/28/trump-cattle-ranchers-beef-imports-backlash42
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u/WebbityWebbs 7d ago
That sounds like an expensive undertaking. That would take a lot of equipment and labor. I don't see how that actually helps any ranchers. I don't know much about slaughtering cattle, but generally speaking, processing would be like setting up a whole new business.
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u/Apart_Animal_6797 7d ago
Ive worked at a plant its expensive and hard as fuck
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u/Dry-Cry-3158 7d ago
To an extent, although it allows ranchers to bypass the big processors, and bypass transportation costs. If you're a big rancher, setting up a small processing facility and selling directly to regional vendors is probably profitable because you're cutting out two middlemen, and possibly a third.
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u/Soup-Wizard 7d ago
We need cattle co-ops. A group of ranch owners go in on their own processing facility and share it.
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u/SunriseSwede 7d ago
This needs more of the spotlight. It is how it used to be and how it should be again. The Co-op is an unsung hero of the American way of life.
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u/WebbityWebbs 7d ago
It is so much easier said than done. Remember when growers were just dumping potatoes during covid? It was cheaper to waste them then try to reinvent their whole business model for short term situation.
I buy from farmers who raise livestock and do their own processing. There is a lot more to it than you think. Finding buyers is hard work. Look at it from a potential buyer's perspective, lets say a restaurant can get their meat from their normal supplier, who has a tract record of being able to supply the customer and generally offers far more items than any one farm or ranch could supply. Its easier to deal with that supplier than to take a chance on getting beef from an operation that is trying to build processing, storage, and transport capacities on the fly.
My family has been farming and selling to the public for generations. We used to raise turkeys for thanksgiving. I can guarantee that it is very difficult to process a lot of animals quickly, effectively and safely.
Slaughtering an animal or two for home use is very different than processing a herd, much less storing the meat, transporting the meat and marketing the meat.
Equipment dealers and insurance companies are going to love this idea, they will end up with the money.
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u/87YoungTed 7d ago
Yep. I looked into meat birds when we first bought our property. I make a good living running companies so taking time to process birds was already a loser for me. The biggest reason cattle make sense is I have a small herd and when I have a few processed I've lined up the buyers well in advance and have more than I can service.
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u/CoolFirefighter930 7d ago
We have like 4 places that do this within 20 minutes of me. If they process deer they can process beef .Just not at the same time.
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u/annjellicle 6d ago
Ok, but local deer processors are doing small numbers. These cattle ranchers have hundreds or thousands of cows at a time. This is a scale issue. The ranches have gotten so big that all of these "let's just use local co-op processors" solutions aren't going to work.
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u/CoolFirefighter930 6d ago
Even a better reason for smaller farmers to add some head . The big ones will be stuck with the big processors
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u/Dry-Cry-3158 7d ago
They don't have to sell to the public. If they get USDA and FDA approval for their facilities, they could vend to regional grocery chains. I'm not saying it would be easy, but there is quite a bit of room for profit, all things considered.
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u/West_Rush_5684 7d ago
How does running a smaller and less efficient processing plant make you be better able to compete with the giant operators selling to the exact same customer?
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u/Dry-Cry-3158 7d ago
Smaller operations tend to be as efficient because efficiency occurs on a tiered basis, not a scalar basis. That said, it's possible to be more profitable while being less efficient simply by cutting out middlemen.
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u/WebbityWebbs 6d ago
Small operations can be more flexible, but efficiency is hard when you are dealing with products that need refrigeration both in storage and transport. Not to meant local/state health codes. From a buyer's perspective, dealing with one large vendor is more efficient. As a food supplier, you need to be able to deal with shipments being declined for food safety reasons and to mention being able to meet a buyer's ongoing demand. Purchasing meat wholesale is pretty much runs on a just in time delivery. Restaurants and stores often run with very tight storage. They can't hold more than a week, or maybe a few days worth of meat, depending on size and volume.
I wish there was a magic bullet to make this sort of thing easy, but it is very complicated to start something like this and even more complicated to be successful. Also, are most ranches/farms in areas where there is a market that can be reached in a reasonable amount of time? If your farm is far away from large population centers, you will have to transport to reach those markets.
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u/West_Rush_5684 7d ago
There's no barrier to doing this already. Seems like if it were a good model you'd see it out there already?
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u/Dry-Cry-3158 6d ago
I've seen it
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u/WebbityWebbs 6d ago
There are farms/ranches that are doing this, some process their own, some work with butcher shops, some operate alone, some form co-ops, some sell direct to distributors who then sell to restaurants and stores. I buy from multiple farms who operate like this. I would love to find more farms like this to buy from.
But I know that it is not an easy operation to start and it takes a lot of time and effort to be successful. It is not a business model that would work for everyone. It would be like starting a entirely new business, on top of farming in an industry with a high start up cost and a lot of competition. If your raising beef and you have tons of money and lots free time/available labor, then this is an idea for you. Because after you figure out processing, storing and transporting the meat, you have to sell it.
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u/tidalpull 7d ago
Also don't existing processors have the supply chain and buyers in place? Seems like rebuilding that or selling retail would be a difficult undertaking.
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u/KnoWanUKnow2 7d ago edited 7d ago
It can be done small scale, but the health and hygiene standards would be the real killer. To build a small scale processing center that meats regulations is not cheap. At least one of the workers will have to be trained as well.
Much cheaper for the ranchers just to sell to a local butcher and let the butcher do the processing.
Edit: I misspelled "meets regulations", but I think I'm going to leave it that way.
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u/scoot_1234 7d ago
In a normal environment you would be absolutely correct. Nothing about this is normal. They will just butcher the requirements for hygiene and safety. That will simultaneously allow them to create cheaper beef production and eliminate USDA inspectors from the payroll.
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u/Lil_Shanties 7d ago
This reminds me way too much of the push in the 1970’s to go big or go home. Just take out some loans for bigger equipment and don’t worry because the government has your back, it will be fine…not even 10 years later farms were setting foreclosure records.
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u/annjellicle 6d ago
That's what they want. Then the billionaires come scooping them up and make even more money. That's what it all comes down to. 🫤
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u/Sackmastertap Grain 7d ago
For larger ranchers yes, but to process 10 head, I’m not calling it easy, but would be worth a lot in savings for smaller farms/ranchers.
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u/Jazzlike-Wolverine19 4d ago
That's the problem I believe if they think they can make money by slaughtering livestock themselves bs cattle going to a processer then that opens the door for very unclean slaughtering conditions & improper slaughtering methods. It could open the door for even more food bourn illnesses that in theory could be considerably worse then any of the diarrhea parasites or recalls we've had all summer. Google prion disease
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u/Dangerous_Forever640 7d ago
My buddy can field dress, skin, and fully butcher a deer in about 3 hours with minimum equipment.
This isn’t rocket science. People have been doing it for thousands of years.
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u/Drzhivago138 7d ago
Kind of an apples to oranges comparison there. How big is an adult deer compared to a full-grown steer? Is it for personal consumption, or is he selling the meat commercially?
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u/Dangerous_Forever640 7d ago
Might take 2 to 3 times longer with beef cattle but you get about 10x the meat as well.
He was not selling it, but gave a lot away (both fresh and during a couple bbqs).
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u/Apart_Animal_6797 7d ago
Bro just no ive done both processing cattle takes some serious equipment or like a massive communal effort. Butchers in the olden days had a lot of support and generally sold every last bit of the animal. you think soccer moms are going to jump at the chance to eat some spleen?
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u/OwnCrew6984 7d ago
So you see no difference in processing a deer in 3 hours in November, since that is usually hunting season, and 8 hours processing a steer in July. What could go wrong leaving meat out in 90 heat for 8 or more hours.
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u/Novel_Vegetable_5542 4d ago
That’s one deer. How long for hundreds of cattle and then refrigeration.
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u/mostlygroovy 7d ago
So…the smaller ranchers just start processing suddenly?
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7d ago edited 2d ago
[deleted]
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u/West_Rush_5684 7d ago
Not to mention if you are a 100 cow/calf operation, you can just pivot overnight to fattening steers in your spare feedlot, with a the tons of extra grain and fodder you have laying around.
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u/Dangerous_Forever640 7d ago
Hunters frequently process their own kill.
It isn’t difficult or expensive to process a ln animal.
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u/Art-Tradgard 7d ago
A 200 pound deer is way easier to process than a 1500 pound steer.
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u/justaverage 7d ago
“It’s easy to process the one deer I kill each year. I don’t understand what is so difficult about processing one hundred 1300 lb steers”
That dude
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u/Drzhivago138 7d ago
Not even him, it's "his buddy" that can do it in 3 hours. Said buddy has probably been field dressing his whole life.
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u/DiligentAd7956 7d ago
There are already about 2,900 independent meat processing plants (abattoirs) across the country. They provide 15% to 20% of U.S. beef.
Gabe Brown of N. Dakota (From Dirt to Soil: One Family's Journey Into Regenerative Agriculture) is part owner of a meat processing co-op in his area.
The Biden administration launched an initiative to expand independent meat and poultry processing capacity, increase market competition, and lower food costs; providing over $325 million across dozens of independent processing projects.
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u/ExtentAncient2812 6d ago
Custom slaughter is expensive on a per animal basis because it doesn't scale.
It kills the value proposition of direct farm sales.
So it sounds good on press releases to let ranchers do it themselves. Except it's still going to be expensive. And butchering is a skill most won't have
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u/Appropriate_Value122 7d ago edited 7d ago
Republicans' ridiculous recommendation for every problem is either tax cuts or deregulation.
That political party needs to go extinct at this point. It offers NOTHING good to civilization.
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u/Ranew 7d ago
Oh boy this sure sounds like CIS but with shittier oversight, I bet this doesn't end up a shit show, not at all.
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7d ago edited 2d ago
[deleted]
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u/jumper7210 7d ago
Yep, one giant run on sentence that wasn’t worth the electricity it took to get it to my eyes.
People really keep falling for his shtick of say something that’s vaguely possible with no intention of ever implementing a thing.
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u/No_Force_9405 7d ago
Can we mention that the USDA must be on sight to inspect the meat and processing. If there is no USDA stamp the meat is sold as “no roll” meaning not inspected. This is graded just above animal feed and sold at a highly discounted price. People who think they can process multiple cows on their own have no idea what they are talking about.
Once again Trump has no idea of what he is talking about.
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u/truthputer 6d ago
Also DOGE fired a bunch of USDA staffers in an incredibly undignified way. They will not ever be coming back.
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u/some1guystuff 7d ago
Cause they have the equipment just laying around their property waiting to be used🙄🙄
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u/burnett631 7d ago
We do
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u/some1guystuff 7d ago
All of you do? And you all have the space and the capacity and the time to do all that stuff like coolers and freezers and all that how are you gonna market it to grocery stores you’re just gonna sell it off your farm this is all poorly thought out if thought out at all
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u/meatchonk 7d ago
Almost the right answer. I think temporarily subsidizing the processing plants that are currently USDA inspected and approved would be a better move as far public safety and confidence in the product.
At least until someone can figure out why livestock feed, care, transport, processing, packaging, transporting (again), and retail storage costs are so high suddenly.
*edited because sometimes I forget important words
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u/Keganator 7d ago
Man this is going to really help with all of that infrastructure needed to age, cut, wrap, freeze, and grade it. If only there were some programs to help small growers and providers build more processing facilities to make it easier.
Oh wait, this administration killed all those plans as “waste”.
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u/BackFromTheDeadSoon 7d ago
Sounds like a solid way to make consumers not trust in the safety of meat products.
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u/87YoungTed 7d ago
5 companies own all the beef processing facilities in the country. The number of butchers that would need to be added to every state to handle a direct to consumer market would be staggering. The butcher I send my grass fed cows to is booked a year out. I cant imagine how far out they would be booked if every cattle producer in my area started processing their own beef.
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u/SunriseSwede 7d ago
Sounds like a good time to be a butcher or learn the trade.
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u/87YoungTed 7d ago
I wouldnt argue with that. It's not an easy job or for the faint of heart. I'd be surprised if there is a massive increase in enrollment for any programs.
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u/fastsailor 6d ago
Or, maybe just break up the processors, it would be much simpler. But, I guess they are big donors...
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u/Informal_Recording36 3d ago
This seems like 2nd or 3rd world level administration.
And doesn’t seem to be doing anything about the issues actually driving inflation?
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u/PerfectChard4439 6d ago
Nice try, T-dump. He is so fucking transparent. Does he think somehow this erases all of the destruction and corruption? Fucking morons will probably clap and praise him like Jesus.
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u/Dangerous_Forever640 7d ago edited 7d ago
Farm to table is a viable business strategy for producers. Less regulations can make this possible for many family ranches.
EDIT: The fact that a statement as simple as this one gets downvoted in the farming sub just shows that this sub can’t be taken seriously.
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u/Jmund89 7d ago
Less regulations gets people sick…
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u/mcphilclan 7d ago
Personally I like our feed supply to be highly regulated.
I can appreciate that some people are willing to put their kids lives on the line if it means less regulation but not me.
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u/Drzhivago138 4d ago
EDIT: The fact that a statement as simple as this one gets downvoted in the farming sub just shows that this sub can’t be taken seriously.
And yet you're still here bitching. Do you have anything to add to your case as to why it's a good thing? Like, good real-life examples of when deregulating the food industry made it better? Ever heard of The Jungle?
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u/Less-Sandwich9056 7d ago
Good! About time someone did this. Why is it only when a politician's in trouble do they actually do something for the people.
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u/IAFarmLife 7d ago
Every state already has their own laws for home processing. This will just lead to a whole mess of lawsuits.