For Immediate Release: October 13, 2026
Contact: R-CALF USA CEO Bill Bullard
Phone: 406-252-2516; r-calfusa@r-calfusa.com
Please find below R-CALF USA’s weekly opinion/commentary that discusses the implication of recent plant closures and what should be done to address them. It is in three formats: written, audio and video. Anyone is welcome to use it for broadcasting or reporting.
Cattle Markets Are Disappearing. Washington Must Act
Commentary by Bill Bullard, CEO, R-CALF USA
Beef packing plants have closed. Regional cattle buyers have disappeared. Workers have lost jobs, and cattle producers are dealing with the loss of nearby markets. The damage is well underway. Washington should be acting right now.
Tyson’s Lexington, Nebraska, plant closed earlier this year. Its Joslin, Illinois, plant has closed. JBS ended cattle slaughter at Souderton, Pennsylvania, while keeping downstream processing operations. Tyson also reduced Amarillo to one shift and announced plans to sell Pasco, Washington.
These are real withdrawals from cattle country. They demand an immediate investigation by the Agriculture and Justice Departments, followed by enforcement wherever the evidence establishes violations.
A packer may say it can maintain national production by moving slaughter to other plants. But that does not restore the buyer a producer just lost. National output tells us very little about whether a rancher or feeder still has competing bids and an affordable route to market.
Cattle cannot wait indefinitely. Every delayed delivery means more feed, more financing, and more care. Longer hauls mean freight expense and shrink. Fewer buyers mean fewer opportunities to reject a bad bid. Producers are carrying those costs right now while the packers quietly reorganize their businesses.
And the damage does not stop at the feedlot. When feeders lose outlets, they cut purchases from ranchers and backgrounders. Feeding activity will likely move toward surviving plants. Independent operations farther away face greater pressure to shrink or exit.
We need to know who is buying, who is bidding, and who controls those decisions. Three plants owned by one company do not provide three independent buyers. Nor does idle equipment provide usable slaughter access when a company cuts shifts, cancels operating days, or restricts delivery slots.
USDA and DOJ should obtain the records now: original slaughter schedules, revisions, purchasing instructions, company communications, operating costs, and the alternatives considered before closure. Evidence must be preserved before equipment disappears and reopening becomes harder.
The packers’ efficiency claims must also be tested. While better utilization may reduce processing costs, reduced competition may also let a packer pay less for cattle. Investigators must distinguish those effects and measure the expenses and risks transferred to producers.
Investigators must look at both conduct within individual companies and possible agreements among competitors. Producer plaintiffs have alleged coordinated restrictions on cattle purchases and slaughter in antitrust litigation. Those allegations require proof but they also provide a concrete reason to examine communications and purchasing decisions, rather than accept corporate explanations without testing them.
The Packers and Stockyards Act addresses unfair practices, unreasonable disadvantages, price manipulation, and prohibited agreements. Antitrust laws provide additional tools. Though a closure alone does not establish unlawful conduct, regulators must investigate promptly and enforce the law when its requirements are met.
Herd rebuilding also depends on market access. Producers need confidence that competing buyers will be there when additional cattle become ready. An investigation should determine whether closures create a destructive cycle: tight supplies justify withdrawing capacity, then less capacity discourages the investment needed to rebuild supplies.
Investigators should trace the replacement beef. If a company keeps selling meat after ending local slaughter, it should be determined whether it comes from other domestic plants or imports. Cattle-related trading around closure decisions should be reviewed, distinguishing legitimate hedging from evidence of unlawful conduct.
We have already seen the danger of processing bottlenecks. During the pandemic, cattle backed up while wholesale beef prices rose. The hog industry’s consolidation offers another warning: production can continue while independent ownership and open-market selling opportunities disappear.
Cattle producers should contact their congressional delegations and demand urgent USDA and DOJ action. Producers should document lost buyers, added freight, delivery delays, and rejected bids and they should insist that officials measure results through restored competition and practical market access. Independent cattle producers need action now, before today’s lost outlets become tomorrow’s permanent loss of ranches, feedlots, and rural opportunities.
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R-CALF USA’s weekly opinion/commentary educates and informs both consumers and producers about timely issues important to the U.S. cattle and sheep industries and rural America.
Ranchers Cattlemen Action Legal Fund United Stockgrowers of America (R-CALF USA) is the largest producer-only trade association in the United States. It is a national, nonprofit organization dedicated to ensuring the continued profitability and viability of the U.S. cattle and sheep industries. For more information, visit www.r-calfusa.com or call 406-252-2516.