Trump vows legal order to break up food processing 'nasty monopoly'

WASHINGTON, Aug 28 (Reuters) - 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 )