KEY TAKEAWAYS: President Donald Trump says he is preparing a legal order allowing farmers and ranchers to process their own food. Trump said the action is intended to break what he called a “nasty monopoly” among major food processors. Four companies — Cargill, Tyson Foods, JBS USA and N ational Beef Packing Co. — control about 85% of U.S. meat processing. The move comes amid high beef and grocery prices and a Justice Department investigation into meatpacking companies. U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday said he was preparing a legal order to allow farmers and ranchers to be given the right to process their own food aimed at breaking what he called “a nasty monopoly” among the nation’s top processors. Trump did not name a particular food or industry in his post on Truth Social but said he was “authorizing legal documents to be drawn” quickly. Earlier this week, Trump said he would see whether there are too many beef processing plant regulations. Representatives for the White House did not immediately respond to a request for more details on the order, which comes as consumers continue to grapple with rising grocery prices ahead of November’s midterm election. Trump’s move comes as the nation’s meat processing sector grapples with ​a 75-year trough in supply as rising cattle costs outpace ⁠gains from soaring prices. Four companies control about 85% of U.S. meat processing: ​Cargill; Tyson Foods, JBS USA and National Beef Packing Co. Trump also announced last week that more ground beef could be imported into the United States without tariffs. The Justice ‌Department has also said it is investigating whether meatpacking companies were illegally driving up consumer beef prices.   (Reporting by Katharine Jackson, Daphne Psaledakis and Susan Heavey; editing by Michelle Nichols and Chizu Nomiyama ) ...read more read less