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I’ve seen a lot of farmers and ranchers posting over the last couple of days celebrating President Trump’s new executive orders for the cattle industry. If you aren’t following agricultural news closely, you may have absolutely no idea what everyone is talking about. On Friday, Trump signed two executive orders addressing several issues cattle producers have been fighting over for years, including country-of-origin labeling for beef, competition in the meatpacking industry, access to processing and interstate markets, and livestock losses from predators.
On the surface, there is a lot here that I would love to celebrate. I raise cattle, and I want consumers to know where their beef actually comes from. I don’t want cattle producers dependent on a handful of huge meatpackers controlling so much of the market, and I want small and independent processors to have a real opportunity to compete. I also want farmers and ranchers to be able to protect the livestock they are responsible for from predators. These are real issues that affect whether people can continue making a living raising the food the rest of us eat.
My loyalty in this conversation is to farmers and ranchers, not to a political party or politician. I’ve been skeptical of every administration and every person in power, and I don’t think that means I have to automatically oppose everything they do. If this administration does something that genuinely helps farmers and ranchers, I’ll give them credit. If it doesn’t, I’ll say that too. I want to look at what was actually done and whether it actually helped the people it was supposed to help.
That is why I’m hesitant to join in the celebration just yet. My friend Dustin Kittle has been breaking down what these executive orders actually say on X, and Congressman Thomas Massie has been raising some of the same concerns. When you get past the social media graphics and read what was actually signed, there is a difference between some of the accomplishments being advertised and what has actually happened.
MCOOL, or mandatory country-of-origin labeling, is probably the clearest example. The basic idea is pretty simple: if you buy beef at the grocery store, you should be able to tell whether the beef you’re buying actually came from American cattle or was imported. American cattle producers have fought over this issue for years, but Trump did not restore MCOOL on Friday. The order gives USDA 90 days to review its authority to establish mandatory labeling, after which USDA may issue or amend regulations where existing law allows, or the administration may develop legislative recommendations. Maybe that ends with MCOOL, and I hope it does, but a 90-day review is not the same thing as MCOOL being restored. Massie has been raising that distinction, and it’s worth noting that he fought to preserve country-of-origin labeling when Congress moved to repeal it in 2015.
The predator provisions are similar, but this one especially concerns me because of how it is being presented. I believe farmers and ranchers should be able to protect their livestock from predators, so I would love to see meaningful change here. The order gives Interior 90 days to determine whether gray and Mexican wolves have met recovery criteria and, where appropriate, begin the process of removing or reducing their federal protections. It also directs the government to consider changes to the rules involving lethal removal. Those things may lead to meaningful changes, but the rules did not simply change Friday. Some of the graphics being shared make it sound like ranchers now have a new right to kill wolves threatening their livestock, and that is not what the order says. I worry someone could see one of those graphics and assume they can legally shoot a federally protected wolf when the law has not actually changed. The person sharing the graphic isn’t the one who would face the consequences for getting that wrong.
The order also includes more immediate actions on competition and meat processing. A major concern for cattle producers is that a small number of large meatpackers control much of the beef industry. When there are fewer companies competing to buy cattle, producers have fewer places to sell them and less competition for what they raise. The order directs USDA to increase investigations into unfair or anticompetitive practices in livestock markets and work with the Department of Justice on enforcement. It also directs USDA to help small and independent meat processors and work on expanding where they can sell meat across state lines. There is more actually being put into motion here, and I’m glad to see it. I just think posts saying small processors have been “unlocked” or ranchers “finally get a fair market” are getting ahead of where we actually are. We still have to see what comes from it.
That doesn’t mean these orders are meaningless. Some of what was signed Friday could become meaningful changes for independent producers, and I genuinely hope it does. I would much rather come back six months from now and admit I was too skeptical than be proven right.
But farmers and ranchers have heard promises from politicians from both parties for generations, and the timing matters to me. We are two months away from the midterms, while some of these reviews and reports have 60-day and 90-day timelines. That doesn’t prove this is a political stunt, but it is enough to make me wait and see what happens after the election before declaring victory.
I don’t want farmers and ranchers used as political props. These are real problems that affect our livelihoods, our animals, and whether people can continue making a living in agriculture. I want MCOOL. I want something done about consolidation and competition in the meat industry. I want better opportunities for independent processors, and I want farmers and ranchers to be able to protect their livestock. I hope these orders lead to all of those things, and if they do, I’ll celebrate them and give credit where it is due. I just want to see those things actually happen before I celebrate what has been promised.
