By Leah Douglas
WASHINGTON, Aug 26 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday said on the Glenn Beck program that he will look into whether there are too many regulations on beef processing plants, after Beck suggested less regulation would enable farmers and ranchers to do their own slaughtering.
The Trump administration has moved to reduce regulation across the government.
Beck asked Trump to "look at the cartel that is the meat processing cartel" and suggested that reducing Department of
Agriculture regulation would make it easier for smaller-scale ranchers to process their own beef.
"This could be a very good call for ranchers," Trump said. "I've been hearing only bad about - it's four places, and it's a monopoly."
Four companies control about 85% of U.S. meat processing: Cargill ; Tyson Foods; JBS USA; and National Beef Packing Co. The Justice Department last year said it was investigating whether meatpacking companies were illegally driving up consumer beef prices.
Trump last week said he plans to temporarily ease tariffs on some beef imports in an attempt to lower record-high beef prices. The move was criticized by farm groups, including top farm lobby the American Farm Bureau Federation.
AFBF president Zippy Duvall urged Trump in a Tuesday letter to reconsider the plan, arguing it will "undermine America’sranchers who work tirelessly to grow food for American families."
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins told reporters at the White House on Tuesday that she did not know which countries were covered by Trump's announcement.
(Reporting by Bo Erickson, Katharine Jackoson and Leah Douglas in Washington; editing by Michelle Nichols and Aurora Ellis)
