The Beef Industry Is RIGGED – Bitcoiners are Fixing it | Tom Taber (Beef.com)

Jan 22, 2026

Tom Taber, Executive Director of The Beef Initiative, dives into the systemic issues plaguing the beef industry, highlighting how corporate consolidation and government subsidies leave independent ranchers powerless. He discusses the importance of food sovereignty alongside monetary sovereignty and announces the acquisition of Beef.com as a 'digital ranch' to empower ranchers and ensure transparency. The conversation also touches on initiatives in El Salvador aimed at revitalizing local beef production and the role of Bitcoin in supporting this transformative effort.

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INSIGHT

Centralized Capture Of The Beef Market

The U.S. beef industry is highly centralized and captured by four processors controlling ~85% of distribution.
That capture plus government subsidies and regulations distort prices and harm independent ranchers.

INSIGHT

Processors Decide Price, Not Ranchers

Ranchers lose pricing power at processing plants and face mandated programs to sell their beef.
The resulting financial pressure is a major cause of ranch failures and suicides.

ADVICE

Use Beef.com To Rebuild Marketplaces

Use beef.com as an open digital marketplace to reconnect consumers and independent ranchers.
Join the platform to protect rancher data and enable fair price discovery backed by Bitcoin.

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"The problem is that our beef industry is under attack and people don't realize that."

In this episode of The Bitcoin Podcast, host Walker America sits down with Tom Taber, Executive Director of The Beef Initiative, to expose what they argue is a deeply broken, centralized, and captured beef industry — and to explain why food sovereignty may be as important as monetary sovereignty.

Tom breaks down how government subsidies, USDA regulations, and corporate consolidation have created a system where a handful of processors control the majority of beef distribution, ranchers don’t set their own prices, and consumers are misled about the quality and origin of their food. The conversation explores how fiat incentives, regulatory capture, and data control have hollowed out rural America and put independent ranchers under extreme financial and psychological pressure.

A major announcement anchors the episode: Texas Slim has acquired Beef.com, positioning it as a “digital ranch” and open marketplace designed to protect rancher data, enable fair price discovery, and reconnect consumers directly with independent, regeneratively-raised beef producers.

Walker and Tom also discuss El Salvador, where The Beef Initiative is working with local stakeholders to help rebuild the country’s beef industry from the ground up — including better cattle genetics, regenerative ranching practices, and the return of local micro-processing plants to restore food security after decades of instability.

GUEST LINKS:

Tom Taber: https://x.com/tomtaberhodl

Texas Slim: https://x.com/moderntman

The Beef Initiative: https://x.com/beefinitiative

BEEF.COM

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