Four companies dominate about 85% of U.S. beef processing, and cattle rancher Shad Sullivan says that concentration has left independent producers fighting for leverage in the market.
In the latest episode of Going Rogue with Lara Logan, Sullivan joins Logan for a wide-ranging discussion about meatpacker concentration, beef imports, country-of-origin labeling, private property rights and the pressures facing America’s cattle industry.
Sullivan is a fifth-generation cattle rancher and the Property Rights Committee Chair for R-CALF USA. The Justice Department has separately said the four largest meatpackers dominate 85% of the U.S. beef processing market and that a federal investigation into potential collusion, price fixing and price manipulation is underway.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, the concentration issue has become a major federal focus as ranchers push for more competition and transparency.
The episode also tackles beef labeling. USDA now limits the voluntary “Product of USA” claim to products from animals born, raised, slaughtered and processed in the United States, while Sullivan argues Congress should go further and restore mandatory country-of-origin labeling for beef.
The conversation later turns to New World screwworm, land-use battles and Sullivan’s broader argument that protecting private property is central to preserving independent food production.
Watch the full Episode 97 interview HERE.
