“Modern-Day Monopoly”: GOP Senator Sounds Alarm On Mega Corporations Hijacking US’ Beef Supply

Republican Senator Josh Hawley slammed the stranglehold four mega-corporations—two of them foreign-owned—have over America’s beef processing industry, calling it a “modern-day monopoly.” 

Hawley, speaking Monday at the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Competition Policy, Antitrust, and Consumer Rights, warned about the cartel-like grip that mega-corps such as JBS, Tyson Foods, Cargill, and National Beef have on the nation’s beef supply chain. 

“Four companies currently control over 80% of beef processing in this country and very similarly high shares of poultry and pork. In Missouri, just in the last year, we have had two poultry plants closed by the dominant. Poultry processor Tyson Food canceling contracts with farmers putting hundreds of people out of work across my state really acting with total impunity why … because they can because they they are essentially a monopolist,” Hawley said. 

Hawley asked Federal Trade Commissioner Mark Meador: “Is this kind of thing [beef monopoly] that the FTC can take action on?” 

Meador responded, “Yes, with the small caveat that the Department of Justice typically handles the packers but the FTC sees this at the retail level as well. When there are a smaller number of packers, retailers pay higher prices, and then consumers pay higher prices, and then retailers want to merge and consolidate their own part of the supply chain to counteract that, and then it’s sort of an arms race to see who can get the biggest, the fastest.” 

Hawley noted, “I’ll end with this right now beef processing is just one example but it’s a perfect example for a state like mine the only people who win are the monopolists – you know if you’re a cattle rancher you’re not getting paid for your product – if you are a consumer at the grocery store you’re paying an arm and a leg for some hamburger - yet so the consumers are paying more the farmers are getting paid less who is making out like a bandit here? It’s the monopolists, it’s the four companies that control 80% of beef processing, that is not competition. We need more competition in this country, economy-wide.” 

On X, Hawley called for “more industry competition in America.” 

A total of 4 companies control a whopping 80% of the entire beef-processing industry. That’s a modern-day monopoly.

The winners here? The monopolists – like Tyson Foods. The losers? Farmers & grocery shoppers.

We need more industry competition in America pic.twitter.com/UxZc7eoAOZ

— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) June 24, 2025

More here

Hawley is right. And here at ZeroHedge, we’ve been at the forefront of sounding the alarm on America’s imploding food sovereignty. With two of the Big Four beef processors—JBS and National Beef—foreign-owned, it’s only a matter of time before Washington wakes up to the national security threat that poses. 

The answer? A grassroots revival of regional microprocessors—a decentralized, community-driven push to take back control of the food supply chain from globalist monopolists and put it where it belongs: in the hands of ranchers nationwide. 

A network of smaller processors adds redundancy, preventing catastrophic bottlenecks, such as what we saw during the early days of the Covid pandemic. When one large meat plant goes offline, the entire national supply chain is thrown into chaos.

Regional processors would provide alternative outlets for ranchers and farmers to sell cattle at higher prices, helping to revive rural economies and preserve family farms. The move to support local ranchers will only gain momentum under the MAHA movement. Know your rancher.