Undercover at CattleCon: Ranchers Say “Big Four” Beef Packers Run the Market
By O’Keefe Media Group
At CattleCon 2026, undercover journalists from O’Keefe Media Group — founded by James O’Keefe — captured ranchers and insiders describing a market controlled by the so-called “Big Four” beef packers: Tyson Foods, JBS, Cargill, and National Beef.
Together, these firms process the vast majority of U.S. cattle.
Ranchers describe a system where competition has thinned, leverage has shifted upstream, and independent producers have little room to negotiate. “They can knock you out of this industry in two seconds,” said one.
When processing capacity is concentrated in so few hands, cattle prices and contract terms increasingly flow from corporate strategy rather than open market dynamics.
This isn’t new — consolidation in beef packing has been decades in the making. But the structure matters. When four companies control the chokepoint between ranch and grocery shelf, the consequences ripple outward:
- Ranchers may be forced to accept lower prices for cattle.
- Consumers pay higher beef prices at the grocery counter.
- Smaller producers find it harder to stay viable.
This dynamic is similar to other food-system consolidations — from seeds to inputs — that have shrunk competition and shifted profits toward large corporations rather than producers or consumers.
The CattleCon undercover video brings firsthand voices from within the industry to a debate that regulators, farmers, and lawmakers have been having for years: Does too much market power in too few companies weaken competition at the expense of ranchers and families buying food?
