Ground Beef At $6.89: Trump Calls Tyson, Cargill And JBS A Monopoly While The US Herd Sits At A 75-Year Low

I keep seeing the same move. A price runs hot, so the state goes after the middle of the supply chain. The shortage nearly always sits at the front of it.

Washington is now going after the middle of the beef chain. On Friday 28 August, President Trump posted on Truth Social. He is drawing up legal papers to let farmers and ranchers process their own food. He called the four big meat firms a "nasty Monopoly." He did not name them. They are Tyson, Cargill, JBS and National Beef, and they handle about 85% of US meat.

The shortage sits at the front of the chain, in the herd. The USDA counted 86.2 million cattle and calves in January. That is the smallest US herd since 1951. Beef cows came in at 27.6 million. Cattle on feed fell 3% to 13.8 million.

The price that started this

Ground beef hit $6.885 a pound in July. US labour data puts that at roughly 83% above the 2017 low of $3.77. The price crossed $5 in 2023 and $6 in 2025. Drought abroad and a shrinking US herd did most of that work.

The packers are feeling it too. Tyson booked a $707m loss in its beef arm over nine months. Beef volumes fell 15.9% in the quarter to 27 June. Prices Tyson charged shops and restaurants rose 12.1%. A firm with real power over price does not lose money that way.

Two moves in eight days

This is the second push in a week. On 21 August the White House opened a 90-day window. It will let in up to 300,000 tonnes of ground beef product with no out of quota tariff. Trump said he had a promise that the beef would sell 25% below market. The cattle trade group opposed both moves.

Colin Woodall, chief of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, said the import plan trades long-run health for a short-run headline. After Friday's post, the same group warned that constant meddling by the state makes ranchers hold back on long-term bets.

Why a new plant will not fix the shelf price

Farm Secretary Brooke Rollins said the USDA would start on Monday, cutting red tape and helping small plants. That could help ranchers in time. A new small plant takes years to build and needs cattle to run. The rules in play date to the Wholesome Meat Act of 1967. A House bill called the PRIME Act would let states clear small plants to sell in state. It has not moved.

Even so, more small plants will not add a single calf. Herd rebuilding runs on a slow clock. A rancher who holds back a heifer gives up the sale today. Then the wait runs about two years before the calf reaches weight. Cheap imports cut the price signal that would pay for that wait.

The read across the wider food chain

Beef sits inside far more than a steak. It is in ready meals, pet food, soups, sauces, frozen goods and every burger menu in the country. Firms in those aisles have carried a rising input cost for three years. Most have paid for it with smaller packs or a higher shelf price.

The import window hands some of them 90 days of cheaper trim. That is a real saving for a firm buying lean beef in bulk. It is also a trap. A buyer who prices a deal off 90-day beef will find the floor gone in December.

What changes for food and drink buyers

The price risk here has turned into rule risk. A buyer can hedge a price. No one can hedge a rule that shifts inside eight days. Two moves landed in that window. Neither has been signed yet.

The monopoly claim carries a cost even without an order. Four firms now sit under a public light on how they price and sign deals. Any buyer with beef in a recipe should pull up its supply deals and read the renewal dates.

There is an opening here as well. The cattle group asked the state to back mid-size and regional plants. If the USDA follows through, a slice of kill and cut work moves out of the big four. Anyone buying beef at scale should start scouting regional plants now. The firms that line up a second source this autumn will buy better in 2027.