The summer barbecue season brings an unwelcome surprise: rising beef prices. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that grilled sirloin averages over $14 per pound, a 20% increase from last year.
This month, President Trump considered reducing tariffs on beef from certain countries like Argentina to lower prices, but stopped short. Such measures would not address a deeper issue: the industry concentration that has controlled the U.S. meat supply for decades. In 2025, over 45% of U.S. cattle passed through only 11 meat processing plants, while the top four companies—JBS, Tyson Foods, Cargill, and National Beef—accounted for 80 to 85% of domestic beef sales in 2024.
In March, Senator Chuck Schumer introduced legislation aiming to dismantle dominant beef-packing companies. The Trump administration, although generally averse to regulating large corporations, has launched investigations into beef packers and egg processors for potential antitrust violations following price hikes during the avian flu outbreak.
Investigative results will only make an impact if followed by rigorous legal actions. Schumer’s bill presents a structural solution with the potential for bipartisan support, which is rare.
The entire U.S. food system suffers from extreme consolidation and fragility. By 2020, two companies controlled half of all fresh bread sales. By 2022, another two dominated two-thirds of the baby formula market. In 2023, two firms produced about 60% of all carrots. This consolidation has kept food prices high, climbing roughly 30% from 2019 to 2025, as companies exploited supply chain disruptions during the pandemic for profit gains.
This concentration was not unavoidable. It resulted from decades of neglect in enforcing anti-merger laws established in 1890. Starting with the Reagan administration, both Republican and Democratic federal regulators adopted a laissez-faire stance on corporate mergers. The Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission embraced the Wall Street perspective that mergers promised efficiencies and lower consumer prices.