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Texas Targets Meatpacking Giants Amid Rising Beef Costs

By  |  May 18, 2026

With beef prices continuing to climb across the United States, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has opened an antitrust investigation into the country’s dominant meatpacking companies, raising questions about whether market concentration is contributing to higher grocery bills and lower returns for cattle producers.

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    Paxton announced the investigation on May 15, saying his office is working alongside the U.S. Department of Justice to examine competition within the beef processing industry. According to USA Today, Texas officials believe the structure of the market deserves closer scrutiny, particularly because a small group of companies controls the vast majority of U.S. beef processing capacity.

    State officials identified four companies at the center of the review: JBS S.A., Tyson Fresh Meats, Inc., Cargill, Inc., and National Beef Packing Co.. Per USA Today, Texas said those firms collectively account for more than 85% of the nation’s beef processing market, a level of industry control that officials say could affect pricing across the supply chain.

    In its announcement, the attorney general’s office argued that such concentration may have given the largest processors leverage over both producers and consumers. The release stated that reports have suggested ranchers may have received lower payments for cattle even as beef prices at stores moved higher, according to USA Today.

    Read more: Meatpacking Giants Face Federal Antitrust Scrutiny Over Consumer Prices

    Paxton said his office intends to investigate whether any laws were broken.

    “Texans deserve fairly priced beef and our state’s cattle ranchers deserve to be paid fairly for their hard work,” Paxton said in the release. “If major meatpackers manipulated the market to underpay ranchers while forcing families to pay higher prices at the grocery store, we will hold them accountable. My office will aggressively investigate any violations of antitrust law to protect fair competition, ranchers, and Texas consumers.”

    The investigation comes as beef prices continue trending upward nationwide. Data from the United States Department of Agriculture showed beef prices in March 2026 were 12.1% higher than the same month a year earlier, and additional increases are expected this year. According to USA Today, federal forecasts project prices could rise another 6.3% before the end of 2026.

    Consumer prices reflect that trend. Figures published by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis show the average price of ground beef reached $6.899 per pound in April 2026, compared with $5.801 in April of last year.

    Texas officials said anyone with knowledge of possible antitrust activity — including allegations involving price fixing or other forms of market manipulation — is being encouraged to contact the state’s antitrust division as the investigation moves forward.

    Source: USA Today