10/26/2025
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As a small-town butcher with my own small beef & pork herds, I've put a lot of thought into how we, as a country, move on from here & what comes next.
To put it plainly, any real, tangible change at this point would require the American people to come together & support American farmers.
It would require the American people to make some immediate, BIG changes, like boycotting meat on the grocery store shelves & sourcing it directly from local farmers, for example.
Here's my two cents, that absolutely no one asked for-
What We Need To Do Now:
✔️Now is the time to pass the Prime Act to give more consumer access to local beef.
❗️ Now is the time for consumers to meet their local farmers & buy as much of their food directly from the source!
Now is the time to press your legislators on the following:
-What is being done to secure the deadly flesh-eating screwworm (NWS) that was last reported Sept. 22nd just 70 miles away from the US border? ❌
If this fly reaches America, it will be devastating to our food supply & wildlife.
-Why have we not passed the Prime Act, which would give American farmers an opportunity to fill the current beef demands?
-Why do we need more beef from Argentina when the US is the #1 producer of beef?
This is a betrayal to American farmers.
-Why do we still not have Country of Origin labels on meats sold in the US?
Cheap Argentina beef, like all imported beef, will be labeled a "Product of the USA", watering down the quality of American beef in the process. 💲
Do you know who currently controls the beef prices in the US?
[Someone loop in the President, please.].
Four corporate conglomerates control the beef processing market- the "packers" aka the "Big 4". It includes Tyson Foods, JBS, Cargill, & National Beef. Together, they control 80-85% of the beef in the US. Everyone should take a long, hard look at these 4 companies when they want to complain about the prices in the grocery stores.
As a matter of fact, just last week, Cargill & Tyson settled a combined $87.5 million lawsuit filed in 2019 over PRICE-FIXING BEEF.
Reuters also reported that Tyson would pay $85 million to settle a different consumer lawsuit over PRICE-FIXING PORK.
So, to summarize, 4 very large, very [legally] powerful companies control 80-85% of the beef processing in the US, allowing them to literally CONTROL the price of meat on the grocery store shelves. The same prices that you, the consumer, pay at the register.
The people who actually raise the cattle, the farmers, the ranchers -
they are cut out lonnnng before the meat has even been processed.
Which is yet another reason, out of a million more, why it is absolutely imperative to support local farms DIRECTLY, while they still exist, & especially if you still want them to exist 10yrs from now...
Our farmers are the last of a dying breed, a critically endangered species. US farmers currently make up somewhere between 1-2% of the population. 85% of those farmers rely on a secondary income just to make ends meet. 💥
In other words, they aren't doing it for the money. The average age of the American farmer is 58 years old, without a generation behind them to take over their hard work when they ultimately retire.
That's without getting into the real life problems farmers are facing every day- like the flesh eating screwworm currently heading our way from Mexico, the constant government legislation that cripples us, the decades of drought, the very real climate change, labor shortages, rising input costs, etc.
We are dangerously close to the American farmer becoming completely extinct. We are dangerously close to a world where only the wealthy can afford the luxury of a steak dinner. A world where only the wealthy have access to nutrient-dense, healthy foods to feed their families.
What happens after the American farmer officially becomes extinct?
In short, all of the food you eat will be controlled by billionaires. (The majority of it already is.).
Let me introduce you to the future I see coming, if we do not protect the very, very small number of people in this country still holding on to what it means to be a farmer.
The way we have allowed mega-corporations to farm in this country, there is an inevitable future awaiting us, where the topsoil is completely depleted of nutrients, water resources are spread unbearably thin, & climate change rears it's ugly head.
When that happens, the government's answer isn't going to be to resurrect the family farm & the regenerative farming practices necessary to heal the planet. It's going to be something they can profit from, something like... ..insect proteins & lab-grown meats, that can conveniently be made indoors. .
FYI- Tyson invested more than $58.2 million in insect proteins... 2 years ago.
$600 million has already been raised for Upside Foods, the lab-grown meats company authorized to sell in the US. Notable investors include: Cargill, Tyson Foods, & Bill Gates.
Speaking of the Microsoft billionaire...
Did you know that Bill Gates is the #1 US farmland owner, with a whopping 270,000 acres? 🤯
Bill Gates is also a large investor in the fake meat products companies Impossible Foods & Beyond Meat. 🤮Beyond Meat has, not ironically, had a lot of stock turbulence this week.
The one person who owns the majority of the farmland in the US is not a farmer & has significant financial investment in alternative meat sources. Subsequently, he has driven the price of farmland up for the actual farmers & choked out new ones.
The American people have allowed mega-corporations to gain majority control over their food for a very long time, with little to no regard to nutritional content, animal welfare, food safety, or the environment.
The most rebellious thing you can do in this country is grow your own food.
This is a very loud reminder that there is still a farmer near you who would LOVE nothing more than to feed you & your family.
If we, as a country, continue to idly sit by & do nothing, that option will simply cease to exist in the very near future.
Like, share, follow, but please, support your local farmers in every way you can.
