The four major beef packers are in the crosshairs of the Trump Administration. The Justice Department, USDA and the White House were all represented at a news conference focusing on anticompetitive behavior in the meatpacking sector. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins emphasized JBS, Tyson Foods, Cargill and National Beef control 85 percent of the U.S. beef processing sector. The discussion also highlighted the size of the U.S. cattle herd, which is at its smallest level in 75 years. “The low herd size inherited by the Trump administration can be attributed to a variety of factors,” said Rollins. “The biggest one, at least from our perspective, is the radical left’s ongoing assault against ranching as a way of life. For years, they used climate alarmism to wage a war on cattle in America, and when you pair that with droughts, wildfires, over-regulation from previous administrations, and volatile markets, this is how we have ended up here today.” Packer concentration in the beef industry started in the 1980s but solidified in the mid-1990s when the four major packers went through a period of expansion and a wave of mergers.
