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1, 2, 3, 4, I declare a beef war.

written by

Jordan Ems

posted on

December 10, 2024

1,2,3,4, I declare a beef war.

Shop small businesses, support your small family farmer, buy American! These are all phrases we hear a lot these days. Even if we intend to do just that, how can we be certain? Strolling through the meat department at any big box store what do we see? 

Display after display of options, choices we have as consumers to support who is being represented on each label. With each stamp, we narrow down our choices till we find the one. "Hormone free, product of the USA, Nation's Pride angus beef.” Seems like a good choice! Except for everything you deduce from those brand names, labels, stamps, and stickers is misleading. Purposefully so? 

Four companies control over 80% of the beef market! 

Creative branding and targeted marketing create the illusion of choice. In reality, your grocery store’s meat department mostly offers products from… 

“The Big 4” 

  1. Brazilian owned - JBS 
    1. AKA; 1855, Great southern, Primo, Swift, Vivera to name a few 
  1. Tyson Foods
    1. AKA; Jimmy dean, Hillshire farm, Ball park, Aidells, Wright brand
  1. Cargill - (The largest private company in America, 3rd largest in the world) 
    1. AKA: Sterling silver, Angus Pride, Preferred Angus, Certified ground beef (Purina dog food)
  1. Brazilian owned - National Beef 
    1. AKA; Black Canyon Angus Beef, Hereford brands, HyPlains Heritage Farms, NatureSource Natural Beef, Kansas City Steak Company 

I had an inkling there might be a few different brands owned by the same parent company. I did not understand the breadth of these conglomerates. 

So how did we get here? 

Agricultural Secretary Tom Vilsack answers this question: “Highly concentrated local markets in livestock have increasingly left farmers, ranchers, growers, and producers vulnerable to a range of practices that unjustly exclude them from economic opportunities and undermine a transparent, competitive, and open market.” Basically, what he’s saying is that small producers, or anyone who doesn’t sell to the Big Four conglomerates, might struggle to enter or remain in the market. 

Here’s yet another contributing factor to the small farmers’ struggle: large conglomerates, both domestic and foreign, are using every advantage to dominate the cattle industry. 

Nearly 40 million acres of US agricultural land is owned by foreign investors.  

“Once Americans lose out on that capacity – whether it be land, feedlots, meat processing facilities, or other resources – we may never have the opportunity to buy it back,” says Kenny Graner, President of the United States Cattlemen Association.    

The influx of foreign investment in agricultural real estate is making it tough for the new generation of farmer to buy land. Outside buyers placing hefty bids and paying above market value, artificially inflates lands prices. This trend poses significant risk to the future of the American farmer. 

Take a moment and really digest this with me. 

In 1967, nearly 10,000 slaughterhouses served farmers across the U.S. Today, over 95 percent of our country’s cattle are slaughtered at just 60 supersized plants. To add insult to injury, these 60 super plants only serve their contracted conglomerate. 

All of this information hit me like a ton of bricks. Put me back in my seat a little. 

Originally, my brother Christian, the farmer behind Parsons Creek, gave me a fairly simple topic for this blog. He wanted me to talk about supporting small businesses and family farms like ours. 

“Alrighty then, easy peasy,” I thought to myself. Boy, was I wrong. It’s hard to see the forest for the trees; you don’t know how big and complex a topic might be until you start gathering information. 

But gathering all of this information (and maybe going down this wormhole is a more accurate way to say it), made me realize, even more, that what we’re doing is important. It's important that the small family farmer keeps their seat at the table. It's important we know where our food is coming from, who our food is coming from.  

Luckily, supporting small businesses, supporting family farms, and buying American is easier than ever.  Just as easily as you can walk into a big box store and buy a package of “big 4 beef” you can have quality, proudly American, small family farm beef delivered to your front door. Hint, hint, now’s your sign to hit that shop button at the top of your screen ;) 

Thanks for reading! See you on the other side of the next wormhole. 

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