Trump allows ranchers to process their own beef and sell across state lines

Published September 4, 2026 4:20pm ET



President Donald Trump signed a sweeping executive order on Friday allowing farmers and ranchers to slaughter their own livestock and process their own food, a measure meant to lower beef prices ahead of the midterm elections in November. 

Trump said during the Oval Office signing ceremony that the Department of Agriculture will create “a program where small and medium-sized and large ranchers can sell their products directly to consumers,” avoiding the four large meatpacking corporations. 

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