President Calls Out “Illicit Collusion” Days After High Country Advocate Exposé
November 8, 2025
Just two weeks after the High Country Advocate published its investigation into how four companies came to control the American beef market, President Donald Trump announced a Department of Justice probe into alleged price-fixing and collusion by major meat packers.
In a pair of November 7th posts on Truth Social, Trump highlighted the suspicious market dynamics that have frustrated ranchers for years: “While Cattle Prices have dropped substantially, the price of Boxed Beef has gone up — Therefore, you know that something is ‘fishy.’ We will get to the bottom of it very quickly. If there is criminality, those people responsible will pay a steep price!”
Minutes later, he directed the DOJ to “immediately begin an investigation into the Meat Packing Companies who are driving up the price of Beef through Illicit Collusion, Price Fixing, and Price Manipulation.”
The timing is striking. Our October 25th article detailed how Colorado’s once-independent Monfort family operation became part of a global consolidation that left just four companies—two of them Brazilian-owned—controlling over 80% of U.S. beef processing. JBS and Marfrig, both headquartered in Brazil, together control roughly 40% of American beef slaughter capacity.
Trump’s statements specifically called out the foreign ownership issue: “American Ranchers…are being blamed for what is being done by Majority Foreign Owned Meat Packers, who artificially inflate prices, and jeopardize the security of our Nation’s food supply.”
The price scissors Trump described—falling cattle prices paid to ranchers while boxed beef prices climb—captures the core grievance of producers across the West. For Colorado ranchers who have watched the Greeley-based Monfort legacy transform from family enterprise to JBS USA headquarters, the President’s words echo frustrations voiced for decades. The gap between what producers receive and what consumers pay has widened dramatically, with the four dominant packers capturing an ever-larger share of the spread.
The DOJ investigation will focus on whether the four dominant packers—JBS, Tyson Foods, Cargill Meat Solutions, and National Beef—have engaged in illegal monopolistic practices. Trump called for expeditious action “to protect Consumers, combat Illegal Monopolies, and ensure these Corporations are not criminally profiting at the expense of the American People.”
Whether federal action can reverse decades of consolidation remains to be seen. But for the first time in years, the concentrated power of global meat packers is facing presidential-level scrutiny—and the promise of criminal prosecution if wrongdoing is uncovered.
From Warren Monfort’s feedlots to today’s international conglomerates, Colorado has witnessed the complete transformation of American beef. Now, it may witness the beginning of accountability.
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