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Trump targets meat processing, gray wolves in orders to boost ranchers
usatoday.com • • nation
Key Points:
- President Donald Trump signed two executive orders aimed at addressing ranchers' concerns, including allowing them to process their own meat for sale, bypassing the current monopoly held by four major meat processing companies.
- One order directs Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins to expand federal licensing and inspection options for small meat processors, facilitating direct sales and interstate meat product sales.
- The second order instructs Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to consider removing gray wolves and Mexican gray wolves from the endangered species list, permitting ranchers to protect their herds by shooting the predators.
- Animal conservation groups criticized the wolf delisting effort, warning it could lead to increased harm to the species, which was previously near extinction, while ranchers have long opposed wolf protections due to livestock losses.
- The executive orders follow Trump’s August decision to temporarily lift tariffs on imported ground beef, a move that upset ranchers amid rising beef imports and a domestic cattle supply shortage.
