March 25, 2024 • 27 mins
In this episode, Lisa talks with Shad Sullivan, an American cattle rancher and chair of the USA Private Property Rights Committee. They discuss the anti-meat movement's impact on the cattle industry, which Sullivan attributes to a global elite's attempt to control food supply and land. He explains how mega-corporations' dominance over the beef supply chain has led to a decline in cattle ranchers and beef farmers, and how this affects the quality and safety of American beef. They also touch on the national security concerns of foreign entities, like China, buying American farmland and the implications of Bill Gates' investments in alternative meats. Subscribe Now to The Truth with Lisa Boothe - new episodes debut every Monday & Thursday.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
So I was watching the ingram angle recently on Fox
News and I saw this cattle rancher, his name is
Shad Sullivan on the screen. He was talking about the
just how hard hit the cattle industry the beef industry
has been in America. So I invited him to come on.
That's the discussion we're going to have today. You know,
as Democrats push this anti meat movement where they want
(00:21):
to seek crickets, where you know, they're trying to devastate
America's cattle ranchers and farmers, and the impact on beef
in America. We're all negatively impacted. And it also gives
them more control over the market as well, less freedom
for Americans, less access to it, to healthy meat, and
just punishing hard working Americans in this country. So we're
(00:43):
going to talk to Shad Sullivan about all of this.
It's a really interesting conversation. I imploy you to keep
listening and hear what he has to say about, you know,
his take on freedom in America, on why this is
so important him, his family, and just America at large.
He is an American cattle brancher, as I mentioned in
the RCAF USA Private Property Rights Committee chair. He is
(01:05):
also a fifth generation native of southeast Colorado, so we're
going to dig into all this with him. I'm a
meat lover. I don't know if you guys are right
eat steak at least, you know, once a week, really
important conversation. Stay tuned for Shad Sullivan.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
Well, Shad Sullivan, I saw.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
You recently on the Inger Mangle and I was like,
I want to get this guy on my podcast. So
I reached out to you, and I appreciate you making
the time.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
You're welcome. I'm happy to be here. It's an honor.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
Well, thank you. You know, I know you've talked about
this before, but you know sort of this anti meat
movement that's happening with all this climate madness. We're saying,
why do you think they're pushing that so hard?
Speaker 2 (01:50):
Well, it's all about control. And you know, for the
last several years, last ten to fourteen years, you've heard
nothing accept sustainability, sustainability, sustatainability in everything we do in
American life. They're pushing what they call sustainability, and all
that is is a top down constructive control that comes
(02:14):
from the global elite to control production and consumption. That's
all sustainability is it's a governance model, and so in
order for them to be able to control the people
in the way that they want to, they have to
go after the food supply. You control the food, you
control the people. But more importantly, at the bottom of
(02:37):
that is who produces the food, who produces energy in
the world, and across America it's the land owners. And
ultimately the bottom level is that is to gain control
of the land. We remember in twenty twenty two Klaus
Schwab at the World Economic Forum said you will own
(02:58):
nothing and you will like it. And so that's the
ultimate goal they're heading into. And the global elite is
an umbrella cover over many organizations, including the United Nations
World Economic Forum, and then they all employ their foot
soldiers to place this model of governance all around the world.
(03:20):
We see that the European Union has adopted sustainable policy,
and we see what's going on with their food supply,
and now it's moved over into Canada and now we're
they're incrementally infiltrating into our system. But just in the
last two years it has really gone mad and wild,
and so we see this attack not only through the
(03:40):
anti animal ideology into farming, but we see it on
property rights and doesn't matter if you own a ten
thousand and acre ranch or just a little business in town.
It is all about controlling private property. Because Lisa, the
global elite and those who want to control the world,
(04:04):
they do not believe in freedom and liberty, and America specifically,
the beef industry is the last bastion of liberty and
freedom in the world. And so that's why they're coming
after us so hard right now to grab the land,
grab control of production, and ultimately take choice away from
(04:25):
the consumer. And we have you know, I n g
os such as a World Wildlife Fund who has come
out and said, we have to use collusion to implement
this sustainable agenda. You know, very diabolical. It's very complex
and confusing, but I've studied it a long time and
I kind of feel like I have the knowledge.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
You know, absolutely, And you know, you'd mentioned that the
past couple of years have been really tough.
Speaker 2 (04:54):
Kind of walk us through that.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
You know, what is your industry faith in recent years
and kind of what are those struggles right now?
Speaker 2 (05:02):
Well, what has happened in the last thirty years is
that Congress has allowed the acquisitions and mergers of mega
companies into the food systems, specifically in the in the
beef industry, they have allowed these mergers to take place
between mega corporations that that process are beef. And so
(05:27):
we have now supplying our food beef supply chain in
America only four mega companies that have total control of
the beef supply chain. So, in other words, they control
eighty five percent of the beef that gets to the consumer.
(05:48):
And when I say that they control that they control
everything from the top down, and that goes against the
governance model declared by the Constitution of the United States,
which which will go from the bottom up. With that control,
it has allowed them to hollow out the cattle and
beef industry into a sector of vertical integration. So we've
(06:12):
already seen that happen in the sheep industry. We now
import seventy four percent of all of the sheep and
lamb into the United States. They decimated the poultry industry.
It is totally controlled by corporate Agriculture, saying with the
swine industry, our pork is wholly owned by China. And
(06:36):
so the beef industry is the last place that they
have to go to do that. And since nineteen eighty
we have lost half of our cattle ranchers and beef
farmers across the United States because of this hollowing out.
And so as we march to globalism, global control, and
(06:57):
this pay to play system from the top down, we
see that more and more operators go out of business.
And there's a plethora of reasons they do, but the main,
the main driver is the is the globalism. And so
when we have all of this coming together to a head,
as if you will, we lose. We lose more and
(07:19):
more producers and we have less choices, and then what
happens is our food supply. In other words, those beef
packers have become so centralized that they have all the power,
they have all the control. And if there was one
thing that that COVID did that was good for us
in our industry is it showed the American consumer that
(07:42):
concentration of their food supply is really bad. And so
with that concentration during COVID, we couldn't get workers to
the packing plants to uh to process these cattle. And
so you saw away from the cattle and beef inistry,
you saw us plowing under our harvests, you know, our
vegetables and our fruit crops. You saw us euthanizing pork
(08:08):
and poultry, and you can't do that with the beef
industry because it takes longer to produce that pound of meat.
But it showed the vulnerability of our food supply chain.
Of course, for the first time since the Great Depression,
we had people waiting in line for food in the
United States, and we are the land of freedom, of
(08:28):
freedom and favor, and we not had to do that.
And so that was something that Coke did good that
exposed that concentration. It also allowed for more farm to
table movement in the in the food supply. That has
been a great movement across America since COVID, and that
(08:51):
has been a blessing to many producing families. But it's
also been a great blessing to our consumers because they're
able to buy local, which is what we have to
do to save this country, and they know where their
product is coming from. So it's been kind of a
double blessing there. If we continue down this road and
(09:12):
the global cabal as I call them, continues to hollow
out our industry and they have partners that are helping
them do that, we will see a total, total vertical
integration in the cattle industry where nobody owns the land
and our legs will be lost forever.
Speaker 1 (09:32):
Quick commercial break more with Shad Sullivan on the other side.
And what does it mean for the quality of food
in America? I mean, I would assume being able to
get meat have more access to me you know, locally,
would be healthier. It would probably be raised with more
quality ingredients. Is that the case?
Speaker 2 (09:55):
Yeah, yes, yeah, absolutely. Once we can get that beef
supply spread out, you know, and we get more access
to the farm to table movement, and I will tell
you we've taken a little bit of the market share
from those big four packers over the last four years
because of COVID the you know, I am not the
(10:18):
type of guy to say, here, you need to buy this,
because that's a freedom issue. You buy what you want,
and you if you want to go to the store
and you want to buy the two dollars a pound
ground beef, go do it. But you're not going to
get to know where that beef has come from. Where.
On the opposite end of that, if you go to
a farm or you know, you buy locally and it's
(10:41):
got a country of original label or a private label
on it, and you have to give a little more
for it. You know where it came from and where
it originated from. My family has done the same thing.
We're raising cattle. We're raising keVs on our ranch specifically
to slaughter, and the only time they ever leave the
(11:02):
ranch is when we take them to the local small town,
federally inspected processor where we are able to sell that
meat to our friends and neighbors and our family. And
it has been a true blessing. Yes, it's a little
bit higher, it costs us a little bit more to
do that, but we're not importing that non regulated beef
(11:23):
into the United States like the big four packers are. See,
if it's a supply and it's supposed to be a
supply and demand driven market, but when the supply gets low,
like it is right now in the United States, and
that's why you see high cattle prices on the hoof
those four big those big four packers are able to
import more and more lower quality, unregulated beef into the
(11:48):
United States and that puts pressure on our prices on
the ranch. So often you see all of these people say, oh,
the farmers and ranchers raising cattle man, this costs me
so much in the store, they must be making a
lot of money. The truth is is the farmer and
rancher is only getting about thirty percent of that retail
doll if that much now, you know, just twenty five
(12:12):
thirty years ago, we were getting seventy percent of that.
And then you add the inflationary costs that we're seeing
right now onto that product, and it is our margins
just decrease and decrease and decrease all of the time.
So it's hard for us to produce at the level
that the Big four can because they have access to
(12:33):
import all this meat, and that ultimately oppresses our prices.
You know, when you have a rancher that's paying you know,
five dollars a gallon for diesel and ten percent interest
at the bank, and these costs of feed and other
inputs have gone up. You know, our electricity costs have
(12:53):
gone up, just like they have in urban areas, and
so that all comes out of the cattle. We have
to make make that available in profits, and it's just
getting tougher and tougher, just like it is for everybody
else in the United States.
Speaker 1 (13:07):
I mean, it seems so silly to me to be
importing me when we can do it here in America
and do it better here in America.
Speaker 2 (13:16):
Yes, I agree with you, and you know, I'm not
against trade, but I am against unequal trade, and I
think that we need to level that playing field out.
The cattle at beef that we impoort are not as
highly regulated as we are in the United States. You know,
the most recent issue is Paraguay importing beef from Paraguay.
(13:38):
We know that that is not a disease free country,
so we have a liability there. And these are all
issues that really form competition against the American cattle rancher
and beef producer. And that's how the big fool gains
their power and control is through that cheap imported beef.
(14:00):
And then that's that. Then the consumer who is on
a budget, on a on a you know, a very
strict budget, they can they can choose to buy that.
Now they don't know where it comes from because we
don't have a country of original label anymore, but they
they have that choice. But the quality is different. And
I try to push everybody into that farm to table movement.
(14:23):
You know, we we have access you know, like an
RCF USA, the organization I represent. We have a website
called usabeef dot org where the consumer can go to
that website and find a farm to table producer near
them that they can buy their beef from. Yes, it's
gonna be a little more expensive in some places. For me,
(14:46):
it's not. I sell at a very reasonable price because
I do it. I have a little different operation. I
do it all grass finished and and so I'm able
to do that a little cheaper for the consumer. But
nonetheless it is it is safer, it's healthier, you know
what you're getting, it tastes better, and it's raised in America.
I mean, I am a I am an America first person,
(15:09):
and I make no apologies for that. I think that's
one of the things we have to do to save, uh,
save our country. You know, we saw the big corporates
kill rural America with the big box stores, and now
rural America has hollowed out. We have we have no
business is on main Street and all across UH central
(15:30):
the central United States. Uh, the big box stores has
taken that away. And so that's the prime example of
what they're doing to our food system as well. It's
all about corporate control and it's it's it's dangerous for capitalism,
and it's dangerous for freedom and liberty. Well, you know,
there have.
Speaker 1 (15:47):
Been you know, governors in various states taking action against
China buying up America's farmland. We've also just seen you know,
Bill Gates by a substantial amount of America's farmland. Why
do you think China is doing that? Why do you
think Bill Gates is doing that?
Speaker 2 (16:05):
Well? In terms of China, obviously, they are an adversary,
and I think it's very very dangerous. And listen, I
am all about property rights. I would not go go
to somebody and say you can't sell your rants to
this person. You can't do that, because that's not that's
not my choice. They own that property, they can do it.
(16:25):
But when you have an adversary like China coming into
the United States and buying up land and strategically buying
up land in a certain location, you have to raise
your eyebrow. And so the legislators they really need to
keep a close eye on that. You know, I think
(16:46):
Oklahoma has passed Oklahoma and Arkansas have passed state measures
that do not allow China to buy any land. But
the truth is is they already have and it is
a national security issue. You know, it's not about production.
Bill Gates is the same way Bill Gates is pushing
(17:07):
He is pushing us to use alternative meats, whether it
be lab grown meat or crickets. I mean, people think
I'm crazy when they when I say they're going to
have a seat in crickets. No, the USBA is financing
cricket farms across the United States. Now, Tyson Foods, one
of the big four beef packers, has invested recently five
(17:28):
hundred million. They're going to build a bun factory. I
call it a bug factory. These things that are really
really happening, and Bill Gates is a big part of that.
Bill Gates, it believes in the climate climate hysteria, but
he really doesn't believe in it because he wants to control.
He's got that power, that taste for power, and he
(17:50):
likes it. And so he's going to buy up land.
And whether they're doing studies on that land, I don't know. Oh,
he's an American, he can buy what he wants. But
we have to really watch what their alternative ulterior motive
is and say let's let's let's go after the US
a homegrown product. That way we're safe and we know
(18:11):
exactly what we're going to get. I think it's very
important Bill Gates has has my eye eyebrows was raised.
I don't think he's a freedom maker. I think he's
a freedom taker, and I think all of his purchases
of land fit into that somehow.
Speaker 1 (18:25):
I don't know how quick break more in America's beef problem.
You had mentioned trade earlier and being in America first guy,
which you know, by the way, I fully support President
Trump in this race. You know, he did go to
war with China and with tariffs. You know, how did
that impact your your industry? You know kind of how
(18:47):
did you feel about that?
Speaker 2 (18:49):
Well? I I am a trunk guy as well, and
I you know, I I think that any time that
we can gain leverage over enemy, we need to do
it and we need to use it. And to dive
deep on that subject, I'm really not an expert. I
don't feel comfortable talking about that because but I do.
(19:10):
I do think that that trumb well. But Trump said
he did, he followed through on his promises and we
were as far as we were in the in the
moment of COVID, and everything was a mess. I mean,
everything in all of our daily lives was a mess.
(19:30):
And so the beef industry was also a mess. I
mean that centralization proved that we were in trouble of
those big four beef packers because our meatshelves were empty.
And so when he reached when he when he started
putting tariffs, I'm all for that. I want to trade
with terriffs. I'm not a free trade guy, because you
know who gets screwed on that. I'm sorry, I shouldn't
(19:52):
have said that. Who gets the bottom.
Speaker 1 (19:54):
The audience has heard words.
Speaker 2 (19:56):
Okay, who gets the bottom? Rub on? That is the
American producer. He loses in free trade. And I don't
care what anybody says, that's the truth. Our industry is
hollowed out. We have less producers, nobody's coming back to
the farm because it's not profitable. These are all things
that thirty years of this free trade stuff has gotten this,
(20:18):
and we're we're so hallowed out to the point of
of we're gonna have to take drastic measures to keep
people on the land. I mean, if it was profitable.
We could get our kids, our kids to come back,
but it's not profitable. And it's because they have used
the American farmer. Maybe I should say they have kind
(20:39):
of abused the American rancher and you and use them
as leveraged to gain momentum for themselves. See. And I
think it's a real problem. Lisa.
Speaker 1 (20:50):
You know, before we go, you talked about the need
for drastic measures. What could a president Trump or or
with more publicans in office, you know what could be
done to revitalize your industry.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
Oh, there's a lot that can be done, and I
will and I'll just tell you I'm a registered Republican,
but I think the Republicans and the Democrats are wings
on the same bird. I think the pay to play
systems has killed America, and I am all for ending
our lobbying. I think lobbying is killing us. You cannot
pay somebody for an opinion and not have drastic consequences.
(21:29):
And what we've seen with that is the power structures
have just gotten more and more because they pay them,
and you go to our legislators, go to Washington, d C.
And it's an abyss of pay to play, and pretty
quick they're bought by the corporates and then they have
no relationship with their constituents back home. I think that's
one thing that President Trump could do. I think another
(21:49):
thing is we have to push in participation in the markets.
We have to push the America First policy, and that
means but we have to reichomplement mandatory country original labeling,
which they made a great step for that yesterday. I
think we have to push our consumers to buy local,
(22:09):
buy American, make make sure it's American. And we have
to hold those policy makers to a higher accountability than
we have been because the corruption has gotten so big,
so thick, that we have forgotten what the Constitution has
laid out for us. And we know that that living document,
the Constitution of the United States, it has been a
(22:32):
great roadmap for our country. But we are forgetting that
because of the because of the the pay to play system,
that dollar has so much influence. It makes everybody forget
their moral foundation, their their character, and their integrity. And
(22:52):
I think that's what we have to do. I think that,
you know, our legislation need to be more in tune constitutionally.
I think that's a big deal. I don't really claim
myself as a Republican anymore. I'm more of a constitutional
conservative and I'm not a white nationalist. I'm a white male. Yes,
(23:18):
I'm a nationalist CS. I love my country, I love America,
and I just my goal is to let our children.
And I have an eight year old son, and I
want him to taste what freedom is. I want him
to feel what liberty is. Exactly what the greatest generation
(23:38):
and those who shed blood for us over the last
two hundred years created for us. You know, this was
meant to be so we can enjoy freedom. And I
think that's the issue right now is we have had
it so good in America that we have forgotten where
we come from. And that's part of the problem with
the anti animal ideology that I always talk about is
(24:00):
once you get three or four generations removed from where
your food comes from, in other words, you get off
the farm three and four generations, and people have never suffered,
never had to wonder where their next meal is going
to come from. I think that's where we go wrong.
You take start taking your resources for granted. And my
dad always said, he says he sat out his deathbed
(24:21):
thirteen years ago, I said, what are we going to do, Dad,
what's going to happen in this country? And he was
an old man, and he said, Shad, the only way
we're going to change our country is if everybody has
to sit in the dark, cold and hungry. See, that
came from a place of suffering, so we understood the
value of where the smallest things in his life came from.
(24:41):
His food, his shelter. He suffered through. He was a
child of the depression, so he knew what a meager
living was. And I think we have to get back
to that somehow, Not that I don't want anybody to suffer.
I think we've been favored in this country and we
live a beautiful life. But now all of this chaos
(25:02):
is coming into it. And it's because we don't appreciate
where the very foundation of the smallest things in our
life has come from. And that is you know, our
our food, supply, health, are our shelter, just the smallest
things that we don't even think about anymore.
Speaker 1 (25:21):
No, I totally agree. And and and the one that
went on that note as succinctly as you just laid
it out. Where can people learn more about these issues?
Where can they find you? You know where can they help.
Speaker 2 (25:32):
Yeah, well, my Facebook is open. It's at Shad Sullivan.
They can go to label ourbeef dot com or our
calf dash USA dot com. They can the issues are
laid out in front of them. We we are We
do not hide our our motives and our issues. We
we are not We did not receive any government money
(25:53):
and that the money in that organization, and we just
we just pushed with the truth and transparency in all
all actions across our across our political spectrum. And uh,
we'd love to We'd love to get in contact. Just
call me, go to my Facebook page, you can go
to my h X at yrlans and uh be glad
(26:16):
to visit with you.
Speaker 1 (26:17):
Awesome, Well, Schatt Sullivan. Really enlightening, interesting conversation. Look, I'm
a meat eat right steak like at least once a week.
Everyone that knows me knows my love for steak. So
appreciate what you guys do. Yeah, I love it, so Lisa,
and I love freedom. So you're you're speaking my language.
Speaker 2 (26:35):
Holiday. Amen. What is your favorite cut of beef and
how do you like it?
Speaker 1 (26:39):
How do you like Okay, So, I don't know if
this is going to be like blastomes or not, so
don't get mad at me. But I'm a ribby girl
and I like it Pittsburgh style, where it's like rear
plus in the center and then crispy on the outside.
So I don't know if that's a terrible way to
cook it, but that's that's how I like it.
Speaker 2 (26:55):
Me and you are cut at the same cloth. I
just I love a red by.
Speaker 1 (27:00):
So if you're going to go for stake, you might
as well, you know, go for flavor my opinion. So
thanks so much, Shad. I really appreciate it. Take care.
Speaker 2 (27:08):
Thank you so much, Lisa Hey.
Speaker 1 (27:10):
That was Shad Sullivan, cattle rancher and the RCAF USA
Private Property Rights Committee Chair. Appreciate him taking the time
to talk about this really important issue. Appreciate you guys
at home for listening to the show. I want to
thank John pass you and my producer for putting the
show together. Until next time,
So I was watching the ingram angle recently on Fox
News and I saw this cattle rancher, his name is
Shad Sullivan on the screen. He was talking about the
just how hard hit the cattle industry the beef industry
has been in America. So I invited him to come on.
That's the discussion we're going to have today. You know,
as Democrats push this anti meat movement where they want
(00:21):
to seek crickets, where you know, they're trying to devastate
America's cattle ranchers and farmers, and the impact on beef
in America. We're all negatively impacted. And it also gives
them more control over the market as well, less freedom
for Americans, less access to it, to healthy meat, and
just punishing hard working Americans in this country. So we're
(00:43):
going to talk to Shad Sullivan about all of this.
It's a really interesting conversation. I imploy you to keep
listening and hear what he has to say about, you know,
his take on freedom in America, on why this is
so important him, his family, and just America at large.
He is an American cattle brancher, as I mentioned in
the RCAF USA Private Property Rights Committee chair. He is
(01:05):
also a fifth generation native of southeast Colorado, so we're
going to dig into all this with him. I'm a
meat lover. I don't know if you guys are right
eat steak at least, you know, once a week, really
important conversation. Stay tuned for Shad Sullivan.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
Well, Shad Sullivan, I saw.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
You recently on the Inger Mangle and I was like,
I want to get this guy on my podcast. So
I reached out to you, and I appreciate you making
the time.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
You're welcome. I'm happy to be here. It's an honor.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
Well, thank you. You know, I know you've talked about
this before, but you know sort of this anti meat
movement that's happening with all this climate madness. We're saying,
why do you think they're pushing that so hard?
Speaker 2 (01:50):
Well, it's all about control. And you know, for the
last several years, last ten to fourteen years, you've heard
nothing accept sustainability, sustainability, sustatainability in everything we do in
American life. They're pushing what they call sustainability, and all
that is is a top down constructive control that comes
(02:14):
from the global elite to control production and consumption. That's
all sustainability is it's a governance model, and so in
order for them to be able to control the people
in the way that they want to, they have to
go after the food supply. You control the food, you
control the people. But more importantly, at the bottom of
(02:37):
that is who produces the food, who produces energy in
the world, and across America it's the land owners. And
ultimately the bottom level is that is to gain control
of the land. We remember in twenty twenty two Klaus
Schwab at the World Economic Forum said you will own
(02:58):
nothing and you will like it. And so that's the
ultimate goal they're heading into. And the global elite is
an umbrella cover over many organizations, including the United Nations
World Economic Forum, and then they all employ their foot
soldiers to place this model of governance all around the world.
(03:20):
We see that the European Union has adopted sustainable policy,
and we see what's going on with their food supply,
and now it's moved over into Canada and now we're
they're incrementally infiltrating into our system. But just in the
last two years it has really gone mad and wild,
and so we see this attack not only through the
(03:40):
anti animal ideology into farming, but we see it on
property rights and doesn't matter if you own a ten
thousand and acre ranch or just a little business in town.
It is all about controlling private property. Because Lisa, the
global elite and those who want to control the world,
(04:04):
they do not believe in freedom and liberty, and America specifically,
the beef industry is the last bastion of liberty and
freedom in the world. And so that's why they're coming
after us so hard right now to grab the land,
grab control of production, and ultimately take choice away from
(04:25):
the consumer. And we have you know, I n g
os such as a World Wildlife Fund who has come
out and said, we have to use collusion to implement
this sustainable agenda. You know, very diabolical. It's very complex
and confusing, but I've studied it a long time and
I kind of feel like I have the knowledge.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
You know, absolutely, And you know, you'd mentioned that the
past couple of years have been really tough.
Speaker 2 (04:54):
Kind of walk us through that.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
You know, what is your industry faith in recent years
and kind of what are those struggles right now?
Speaker 2 (05:02):
Well, what has happened in the last thirty years is
that Congress has allowed the acquisitions and mergers of mega
companies into the food systems, specifically in the in the
beef industry, they have allowed these mergers to take place
between mega corporations that that process are beef. And so
(05:27):
we have now supplying our food beef supply chain in
America only four mega companies that have total control of
the beef supply chain. So, in other words, they control
eighty five percent of the beef that gets to the consumer.
(05:48):
And when I say that they control that they control
everything from the top down, and that goes against the
governance model declared by the Constitution of the United States,
which which will go from the bottom up. With that control,
it has allowed them to hollow out the cattle and
beef industry into a sector of vertical integration. So we've
(06:12):
already seen that happen in the sheep industry. We now
import seventy four percent of all of the sheep and
lamb into the United States. They decimated the poultry industry.
It is totally controlled by corporate Agriculture, saying with the
swine industry, our pork is wholly owned by China. And
(06:36):
so the beef industry is the last place that they
have to go to do that. And since nineteen eighty
we have lost half of our cattle ranchers and beef
farmers across the United States because of this hollowing out.
And so as we march to globalism, global control, and
(06:57):
this pay to play system from the top down, we
see that more and more operators go out of business.
And there's a plethora of reasons they do, but the main,
the main driver is the is the globalism. And so
when we have all of this coming together to a head,
as if you will, we lose. We lose more and
(07:19):
more producers and we have less choices, and then what
happens is our food supply. In other words, those beef
packers have become so centralized that they have all the power,
they have all the control. And if there was one
thing that that COVID did that was good for us
in our industry is it showed the American consumer that
(07:42):
concentration of their food supply is really bad. And so
with that concentration during COVID, we couldn't get workers to
the packing plants to uh to process these cattle. And
so you saw away from the cattle and beef inistry,
you saw us plowing under our harvests, you know, our
vegetables and our fruit crops. You saw us euthanizing pork
(08:08):
and poultry, and you can't do that with the beef
industry because it takes longer to produce that pound of meat.
But it showed the vulnerability of our food supply chain.
Of course, for the first time since the Great Depression,
we had people waiting in line for food in the
United States, and we are the land of freedom, of
(08:28):
freedom and favor, and we not had to do that.
And so that was something that Coke did good that
exposed that concentration. It also allowed for more farm to
table movement in the in the food supply. That has
been a great movement across America since COVID, and that
(08:51):
has been a blessing to many producing families. But it's
also been a great blessing to our consumers because they're
able to buy local, which is what we have to
do to save this country, and they know where their
product is coming from. So it's been kind of a
double blessing there. If we continue down this road and
(09:12):
the global cabal as I call them, continues to hollow
out our industry and they have partners that are helping
them do that, we will see a total, total vertical
integration in the cattle industry where nobody owns the land
and our legs will be lost forever.
Speaker 1 (09:32):
Quick commercial break more with Shad Sullivan on the other side.
And what does it mean for the quality of food
in America? I mean, I would assume being able to
get meat have more access to me you know, locally,
would be healthier. It would probably be raised with more
quality ingredients. Is that the case?
Speaker 2 (09:55):
Yeah, yes, yeah, absolutely. Once we can get that beef
supply spread out, you know, and we get more access
to the farm to table movement, and I will tell
you we've taken a little bit of the market share
from those big four packers over the last four years
because of COVID the you know, I am not the
(10:18):
type of guy to say, here, you need to buy this,
because that's a freedom issue. You buy what you want,
and you if you want to go to the store
and you want to buy the two dollars a pound
ground beef, go do it. But you're not going to
get to know where that beef has come from. Where.
On the opposite end of that, if you go to
a farm or you know, you buy locally and it's
(10:41):
got a country of original label or a private label
on it, and you have to give a little more
for it. You know where it came from and where
it originated from. My family has done the same thing.
We're raising cattle. We're raising keVs on our ranch specifically
to slaughter, and the only time they ever leave the
(11:02):
ranch is when we take them to the local small town,
federally inspected processor where we are able to sell that
meat to our friends and neighbors and our family. And
it has been a true blessing. Yes, it's a little
bit higher, it costs us a little bit more to
do that, but we're not importing that non regulated beef
(11:23):
into the United States like the big four packers are. See,
if it's a supply and it's supposed to be a
supply and demand driven market, but when the supply gets low,
like it is right now in the United States, and
that's why you see high cattle prices on the hoof
those four big those big four packers are able to
import more and more lower quality, unregulated beef into the
(11:48):
United States and that puts pressure on our prices on
the ranch. So often you see all of these people say, oh,
the farmers and ranchers raising cattle man, this costs me
so much in the store, they must be making a
lot of money. The truth is is the farmer and
rancher is only getting about thirty percent of that retail
doll if that much now, you know, just twenty five
(12:12):
thirty years ago, we were getting seventy percent of that.
And then you add the inflationary costs that we're seeing
right now onto that product, and it is our margins
just decrease and decrease and decrease all of the time.
So it's hard for us to produce at the level
that the Big four can because they have access to
(12:33):
import all this meat, and that ultimately oppresses our prices.
You know, when you have a rancher that's paying you know,
five dollars a gallon for diesel and ten percent interest
at the bank, and these costs of feed and other
inputs have gone up. You know, our electricity costs have
(12:53):
gone up, just like they have in urban areas, and
so that all comes out of the cattle. We have
to make make that available in profits, and it's just
getting tougher and tougher, just like it is for everybody
else in the United States.
Speaker 1 (13:07):
I mean, it seems so silly to me to be
importing me when we can do it here in America
and do it better here in America.
Speaker 2 (13:16):
Yes, I agree with you, and you know, I'm not
against trade, but I am against unequal trade, and I
think that we need to level that playing field out.
The cattle at beef that we impoort are not as
highly regulated as we are in the United States. You know,
the most recent issue is Paraguay importing beef from Paraguay.
(13:38):
We know that that is not a disease free country,
so we have a liability there. And these are all
issues that really form competition against the American cattle rancher
and beef producer. And that's how the big fool gains
their power and control is through that cheap imported beef.
(14:00):
And then that's that. Then the consumer who is on
a budget, on a on a you know, a very
strict budget, they can they can choose to buy that.
Now they don't know where it comes from because we
don't have a country of original label anymore, but they
they have that choice. But the quality is different. And
I try to push everybody into that farm to table movement.
(14:23):
You know, we we have access you know, like an
RCF USA, the organization I represent. We have a website
called usabeef dot org where the consumer can go to
that website and find a farm to table producer near
them that they can buy their beef from. Yes, it's
gonna be a little more expensive in some places. For me,
(14:46):
it's not. I sell at a very reasonable price because
I do it. I have a little different operation. I
do it all grass finished and and so I'm able
to do that a little cheaper for the consumer. But
nonetheless it is it is safer, it's healthier, you know
what you're getting, it tastes better, and it's raised in America.
I mean, I am a I am an America first person,
(15:09):
and I make no apologies for that. I think that's
one of the things we have to do to save, uh,
save our country. You know, we saw the big corporates
kill rural America with the big box stores, and now
rural America has hollowed out. We have we have no
business is on main Street and all across UH central
(15:30):
the central United States. Uh, the big box stores has
taken that away. And so that's the prime example of
what they're doing to our food system as well. It's
all about corporate control and it's it's it's dangerous for capitalism,
and it's dangerous for freedom and liberty. Well, you know,
there have.
Speaker 1 (15:47):
Been you know, governors in various states taking action against
China buying up America's farmland. We've also just seen you know,
Bill Gates by a substantial amount of America's farmland. Why
do you think China is doing that? Why do you
think Bill Gates is doing that?
Speaker 2 (16:05):
Well? In terms of China, obviously, they are an adversary,
and I think it's very very dangerous. And listen, I
am all about property rights. I would not go go
to somebody and say you can't sell your rants to
this person. You can't do that, because that's not that's
not my choice. They own that property, they can do it.
(16:25):
But when you have an adversary like China coming into
the United States and buying up land and strategically buying
up land in a certain location, you have to raise
your eyebrow. And so the legislators they really need to
keep a close eye on that. You know, I think
(16:46):
Oklahoma has passed Oklahoma and Arkansas have passed state measures
that do not allow China to buy any land. But
the truth is is they already have and it is
a national security issue. You know, it's not about production.
Bill Gates is the same way Bill Gates is pushing
(17:07):
He is pushing us to use alternative meats, whether it
be lab grown meat or crickets. I mean, people think
I'm crazy when they when I say they're going to
have a seat in crickets. No, the USBA is financing
cricket farms across the United States. Now, Tyson Foods, one
of the big four beef packers, has invested recently five
(17:28):
hundred million. They're going to build a bun factory. I
call it a bug factory. These things that are really
really happening, and Bill Gates is a big part of that.
Bill Gates, it believes in the climate climate hysteria, but
he really doesn't believe in it because he wants to control.
He's got that power, that taste for power, and he
(17:50):
likes it. And so he's going to buy up land.
And whether they're doing studies on that land, I don't know. Oh,
he's an American, he can buy what he wants. But
we have to really watch what their alternative ulterior motive
is and say let's let's let's go after the US
a homegrown product. That way we're safe and we know
(18:11):
exactly what we're going to get. I think it's very
important Bill Gates has has my eye eyebrows was raised.
I don't think he's a freedom maker. I think he's
a freedom taker, and I think all of his purchases
of land fit into that somehow.
Speaker 1 (18:25):
I don't know how quick break more in America's beef problem.
You had mentioned trade earlier and being in America first guy,
which you know, by the way, I fully support President
Trump in this race. You know, he did go to
war with China and with tariffs. You know, how did
that impact your your industry? You know kind of how
(18:47):
did you feel about that?
Speaker 2 (18:49):
Well? I I am a trunk guy as well, and
I you know, I I think that any time that
we can gain leverage over enemy, we need to do
it and we need to use it. And to dive
deep on that subject, I'm really not an expert. I
don't feel comfortable talking about that because but I do.
(19:10):
I do think that that trumb well. But Trump said
he did, he followed through on his promises and we
were as far as we were in the in the
moment of COVID, and everything was a mess. I mean,
everything in all of our daily lives was a mess.
(19:30):
And so the beef industry was also a mess. I
mean that centralization proved that we were in trouble of
those big four beef packers because our meatshelves were empty.
And so when he reached when he when he started
putting tariffs, I'm all for that. I want to trade
with terriffs. I'm not a free trade guy, because you
know who gets screwed on that. I'm sorry, I shouldn't
(19:52):
have said that. Who gets the bottom.
Speaker 1 (19:54):
The audience has heard words.
Speaker 2 (19:56):
Okay, who gets the bottom? Rub on? That is the
American producer. He loses in free trade. And I don't
care what anybody says, that's the truth. Our industry is
hollowed out. We have less producers, nobody's coming back to
the farm because it's not profitable. These are all things
that thirty years of this free trade stuff has gotten this,
(20:18):
and we're we're so hallowed out to the point of
of we're gonna have to take drastic measures to keep
people on the land. I mean, if it was profitable.
We could get our kids, our kids to come back,
but it's not profitable. And it's because they have used
the American farmer. Maybe I should say they have kind
(20:39):
of abused the American rancher and you and use them
as leveraged to gain momentum for themselves. See. And I
think it's a real problem. Lisa.
Speaker 1 (20:50):
You know, before we go, you talked about the need
for drastic measures. What could a president Trump or or
with more publicans in office, you know what could be
done to revitalize your industry.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
Oh, there's a lot that can be done, and I
will and I'll just tell you I'm a registered Republican,
but I think the Republicans and the Democrats are wings
on the same bird. I think the pay to play
systems has killed America, and I am all for ending
our lobbying. I think lobbying is killing us. You cannot
pay somebody for an opinion and not have drastic consequences.
(21:29):
And what we've seen with that is the power structures
have just gotten more and more because they pay them,
and you go to our legislators, go to Washington, d C.
And it's an abyss of pay to play, and pretty
quick they're bought by the corporates and then they have
no relationship with their constituents back home. I think that's
one thing that President Trump could do. I think another
(21:49):
thing is we have to push in participation in the markets.
We have to push the America First policy, and that
means but we have to reichomplement mandatory country original labeling,
which they made a great step for that yesterday. I
think we have to push our consumers to buy local,
(22:09):
buy American, make make sure it's American. And we have
to hold those policy makers to a higher accountability than
we have been because the corruption has gotten so big,
so thick, that we have forgotten what the Constitution has
laid out for us. And we know that that living document,
the Constitution of the United States, it has been a
(22:32):
great roadmap for our country. But we are forgetting that
because of the because of the the pay to play system,
that dollar has so much influence. It makes everybody forget
their moral foundation, their their character, and their integrity. And
(22:52):
I think that's what we have to do. I think that,
you know, our legislation need to be more in tune constitutionally.
I think that's a big deal. I don't really claim
myself as a Republican anymore. I'm more of a constitutional
conservative and I'm not a white nationalist. I'm a white male. Yes,
(23:18):
I'm a nationalist CS. I love my country, I love America,
and I just my goal is to let our children.
And I have an eight year old son, and I
want him to taste what freedom is. I want him
to feel what liberty is. Exactly what the greatest generation
(23:38):
and those who shed blood for us over the last
two hundred years created for us. You know, this was
meant to be so we can enjoy freedom. And I
think that's the issue right now is we have had
it so good in America that we have forgotten where
we come from. And that's part of the problem with
the anti animal ideology that I always talk about is
(24:00):
once you get three or four generations removed from where
your food comes from, in other words, you get off
the farm three and four generations, and people have never suffered,
never had to wonder where their next meal is going
to come from. I think that's where we go wrong.
You take start taking your resources for granted. And my
dad always said, he says he sat out his deathbed
(24:21):
thirteen years ago, I said, what are we going to do, Dad,
what's going to happen in this country? And he was
an old man, and he said, Shad, the only way
we're going to change our country is if everybody has
to sit in the dark, cold and hungry. See, that
came from a place of suffering, so we understood the
value of where the smallest things in his life came from.
(24:41):
His food, his shelter. He suffered through. He was a
child of the depression, so he knew what a meager
living was. And I think we have to get back
to that somehow, Not that I don't want anybody to suffer.
I think we've been favored in this country and we
live a beautiful life. But now all of this chaos
(25:02):
is coming into it. And it's because we don't appreciate
where the very foundation of the smallest things in our
life has come from. And that is you know, our
our food, supply, health, are our shelter, just the smallest
things that we don't even think about anymore.
Speaker 1 (25:21):
No, I totally agree. And and and the one that
went on that note as succinctly as you just laid
it out. Where can people learn more about these issues?
Where can they find you? You know where can they help.
Speaker 2 (25:32):
Yeah, well, my Facebook is open. It's at Shad Sullivan.
They can go to label ourbeef dot com or our
calf dash USA dot com. They can the issues are
laid out in front of them. We we are We
do not hide our our motives and our issues. We
we are not We did not receive any government money
(25:53):
and that the money in that organization, and we just
we just pushed with the truth and transparency in all
all actions across our across our political spectrum. And uh,
we'd love to We'd love to get in contact. Just
call me, go to my Facebook page, you can go
to my h X at yrlans and uh be glad
(26:16):
to visit with you.
Speaker 1 (26:17):
Awesome, Well, Schatt Sullivan. Really enlightening, interesting conversation. Look, I'm
a meat eat right steak like at least once a week.
Everyone that knows me knows my love for steak. So
appreciate what you guys do. Yeah, I love it, so Lisa,
and I love freedom. So you're you're speaking my language.
Speaker 2 (26:35):
Holiday. Amen. What is your favorite cut of beef and
how do you like it?
Speaker 1 (26:39):
How do you like Okay, So, I don't know if
this is going to be like blastomes or not, so
don't get mad at me. But I'm a ribby girl
and I like it Pittsburgh style, where it's like rear
plus in the center and then crispy on the outside.
So I don't know if that's a terrible way to
cook it, but that's that's how I like it.
Speaker 2 (26:55):
Me and you are cut at the same cloth. I
just I love a red by.
Speaker 1 (27:00):
So if you're going to go for stake, you might
as well, you know, go for flavor my opinion. So
thanks so much, Shad. I really appreciate it. Take care.
Speaker 2 (27:08):
Thank you so much, Lisa Hey.
Speaker 1 (27:10):
That was Shad Sullivan, cattle rancher and the RCAF USA
Private Property Rights Committee Chair. Appreciate him taking the time
to talk about this really important issue. Appreciate you guys
at home for listening to the show. I want to
thank John pass you and my producer for putting the
show together. Until next time,
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