Trump Looks To Ease Beef Processing Regulations

President Donald Trump said Friday that his administration will seek changes to allow farmers and ranchers to slaughter and process their own products in response to calls to loosen the grip of the big companies that dominate U.S. meat processing.

“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,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social. “This should move quickly.”

The president’s announcement follows his proclamation earlier this week allowing an increase in beef imports over the next three months as part of a broader effort to bring down food prices ahead of the midterms. Trump also signaled his interest in addressing ranchers’ concerns about the so-called Big Four meat processors during an interview Wednesday with conservative commentator Glenn Beck.

The Trump administration had already been weighing industry-friendly policies to quell ranchers’ backlash against the beef import plans after a previous proposal was shelved earlier this year amid similar complaints.

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said Friday in a post on X that “big announcements” are coming starting next week, including “expanding truth in labeling,” prioritizing “real support for small processors (funding and deregulation)” and fighting consolidation.

The administration has already rolled out $60 million to bolster small meat processors and initiated an investigation into allegations that the Big Four meatpackers engaged in anti-competitive practices. It’s not yet clear to what extent the new Agriculture Department announcements will differ from existing efforts.

The White House and USDA did not immediately respond to questions about the timeline for the changes or the process for rolling them out.

Beck, who owns a ranch, highlighted concerns about slaughter regulations during the interview with Trump, telling the president that the Big Four meatpackers and regulations are “just killing us.”

“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.

“This is a very big thing you just told me, though, because you just gave me a very good idea,” the president added.

But federal agencies are limited in how much they can unilaterally change without congressional action.

Lawmakers have attempted for years to pass language that would allow small ranches and local slaughterhouses to sell meat directly to consumers without USDA inspections.

The bill, known as the PRIME Act, has bipartisan support led by Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) in the House and Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Angus King (I-Maine) in the Senate. The legislation has failed to gain traction in the face of lobbying efforts from powerful agriculture groups that argue the change would create a food safety threat.

Massie posted on X on Friday that Trump’s post “is great, but it should be a law, not just an executive order.”

“Pass the PRIME Act so consumers can get affordable U.S. beef and farmers can flourish!” Massie wrote.

And any mandatory change to country-of-origin labeling for beef would also require congressional approval as lawmakers repealed previous beef labeling rules in 2015. The Senate Agriculture Committee voted to include mandatory country-of-origin labels for beef in their farm bill package, which stalled in committee earlier this month.