President Donald Trump’s call for an investigation into possible price-fixing in the meatpacking industry could finally bring long-awaited answers for U.S. cattle producers struggling with high prices and limited supply, former National Cattlemen’s Beef Association President Marty Smith said Sunday on Newsmax.
“President Trump has been a great supporter of the United States cattle industry,” Smith told Newsmax’s “Wake Up America Weekend.” “But we are seeing some record high beef prices, largely due to supply and demand. Our beef supply is down, and demand has stayed extremely strong.”
Smith said the current shortage in beef production is the result of several years of tough conditions for ranchers.
“The cattle supply is cyclical,” he said. “But the last three or four years we’ve had drought throughout the country that has led to ranchers not being able to produce as many cattle. Corn and soybean production have been down, too.”
Trump announced this week on Truth Social that he has asked the Department of Justice to investigate major meatpacking companies for alleged “illicit collusion, price fixing, and price manipulation.”
The president vowed to “protect our American ranchers” amid mounting concerns over corporate control and foreign ownership in the beef industry.
Smith said the issue of price disparities between cattle and beef has been a longstanding concern.
“Back in 2020, in the early days of COVID, we saw a great disparity between the price of cattle and the price of beef,” he said. “The price of cattle dropped immensely, while beef in the store continued to rise.”
At that time, Smith said he wrote to the White House requesting an investigation, and Trump’s administration responded immediately.
“Within 24 hours, the White House was already on top of it,” he said. “However, when the administration changed, we never heard anything more from the Department of Justice. We don’t have any idea what the outcome is.”
Smith also noted that most cattle producers, like himself, have little leverage in setting prices.
“Cattle producers and really anybody in production agriculture, we are price takers,” he said. “We don’t control the price that we get. … All of our stuff is very time-constrained, so we have to take prices as they’re offered.”
Asked whether foreign meatpackers are inflating prices, Smith said the situation remains unclear.
“We have four major packers that control about 80% of the beef packing industry in the United States,” he said. “Two of those do have foreign ownership from Brazil.”
Existing laws and regulations are designed to protect both consumers and domestic producers, Smith noted.
“They can carry out what the laws are that are already on the books,” he said. “If there is something there, and they find something, they’ll do something about it.”
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