What’s the Beef?

When Americans walk into their local supermarket, they’re faced with sky-high prices in the butcher’s department, but lowering costs everywhere else. Why is that? The government may finally answer that question, helping families everywhere lower their monthly grocery bill.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Department of Justice are teaming up against the “Big Four” meatpackers that now dominate America’s beef industry. The alarming issue beyond the price, is the foreign control of these major corporations. When four corporations control roughly 85% of U.S. beef processing capacity — up from just 25% in 1977 — alarm bells should sound for every consumer, rancher, and policymaker concerned about affordability, competition, and national security.

This is not a story of economics, but about whether America will maintain control of its own food supply.

Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins has correctly framed the issue as both an affordability crisis and a strategic vulnerability. According to the USDA and DOJ, federal investigators have reviewed more than three million documents while conducting hundreds of interviews to probe potential antitrust violations in cattle markets.

Independent ranchers have warned the government for years that consolidation and foreign control in the meatpacking industry would distort the market. Consumers pay record-high prices at the checkout counter, while smaller farms receive shrinking margins. Somewhere in between, massive foreign-owned or controlled conglomerates appear to be capturing extraordinary leverage over the supply chain. 

Our free enterprise system relies on competition. When a handful of dominant firms controlled by foreign entities gain overwhelming control over processing, distribution, and pricing, the market stops in its tracks. Firms with foreign control risk jeopardizing American interests, particularly the food on the kitchen table.

It’s time for the country to stop ignoring this crisis in our Heartland. USDA officials note that more than 100,000 ranches have disappeared over the past decade. Not the past 100 years, just a decade. 

Two of the companies threatening the prices at the grocery store are primarily foreign-owned by Brazil. Our food supply being controlled from abroad should concern every American.

Here at the American Security Coalition, we believe food security is national security. A nation that cannot reliably control its own food production becomes vulnerable during economic crises, geopolitical conflicts, cyberattacks, and supply-chain disruptions.

We already saw this during the pandemic, when fragile supply chains exposed just how dependent modern life has become on centralized systems. Consolidating America’s main source of protein into the hands of a few giant corporations, particularly foreign-controlled entities, creates risks we cannot accept.

The Trump administration deserves credit for their leadership in recognizing this issue and directing federal agencies to act. Agriculture is national security. American ranchers and farmers play a critical role, and they deserve our support.

The real backbone of American agriculture remains the family farmer and rancher, the local cattle producer, and the independent processor trying to make ends meet in an increasingly consolidated world. If the Department of Agriculture is able to expand regional processing capacity, and the Department of Justice can protect competition, then consumers will see a return to transparent pricing the next time they shop for hamburger patties or a ribeye steak.

The USDA and DOJ have both signaled that additional enforcement and settlements may soon follow, including measures to influence the meat industry beyond beef.

American consumers should be able to afford the meal on their table. Our small ranchers should not be pushed aside by foreign corporate concentration. And America’s food system should never become strategically dependent on foreign-controlled entities.

The goal is to lower prices, strengthen competition, secure supply chains, and rebuild a food system that serves the American people.