Cattle industry speaks out against Trump's ground beef import announcement

Cattle and agriculture groups were quick to voice their displeasure with President Donald Trump's social media announcement Friday morning, saying he would allow up to 300,000 metric tons of ground beef to be imported without impacting tariff quotas as part of a 90-day deal aimed at lower prices. Trump, in a Truth Social post on Aug. 21, said he had "a commitment" that the meat would be sold at 25% below current market prices. He did not say which countries the beef was coming from or who had committed to the lower prices. ADVERTISEMENT Cattle prices — and subsequently beef prices paid by consumers — have remained at high levels in recent years as the nation's cattle herd has shrunk to historically low levels. While cattle producers in some parts of the country, including North Dakota, Minnesota and South Dakota, have started the slow process of increasing cattle numbers, ag groups and cattle industry leaders warned that uncertainty would keep that effort from taking shape nationwide. The word "disappointed" was common in statements from ag groups and cattle groups on Friday. Many groups also mentioned that past attempts to bring in more foreign beef — namely Trump's decision in October 2025 to bring in beef from Argentina — did not bring down prices for consumers. Val Wagner, president of North Dakota Farm Bureau and a cattle producer, said the U.S. already is importing beef at record levels. She listed challenges faced by the cattle industry, including drought and "an ongoing input-cost crisis." "Despite persistently high beef prices in grocery stores, prices paid to farmers and ranchers for their cattle have fallen sharply in recent weeks, while the costs of raising cattle have seen no relief. Flooding markets with foreign products does not meaningfully lower what consumers pay at checkout. History and recent experience have been consistent: short-term import surges reduce the prices received by domestic producers without providing relief to consumers," she said. "This measure will accomplish nothing but to undercut a fragile recovery for producers and threaten the long-term supply of American-raised beef. Growing dependence on foreign-grown food could ultimately lead to higher grocery costs and greater reliance on other nations for our food security. The president must reverse course and focus on policies that support North Dakota and American cattle producers as they work to feed America and expand the herd for future generations." North Dakota Stockmen’s Association President Randy Schmitt, a Rugby, North Dakota, cow-calf producer, said ranchers understand the need for affordable food but "using government-subsidized, below-market, foreign beef to influence prices is not a realistic solution and undermines the very producers working to rebuild the nation’s cattle herd and who put high-quality beef on families' tables." Schmitt said markets "reacted sharply" to the announcement. The August and October futures prices for live cattle dropped 30 cents and 7.5 cents, respectively, on Friday, while the August futures price for feeder cattle dropped 55 cents. Farther-out months in both markets were up at the close of business for the day. Schmitt said producers are making important decisions about the future of their herds during this time of year, and the industry responds to demand and market signals. ADVERTISEMENT "Policies that disrupt those signals or create additional uncertainty discourage herd expansion and investment at precisely the time the industry needs stability," he said. He said the Stockmen's Association urges policymakers to focus on things that support the industry, "not knee-jerk measures that jeopardize the future of cattle production." "The cattle industry needs markets that are allowed to function without unnecessary government intervention. Allowing markets to work provides the clearest path for producers to respond to consumer demand and strengthen the domestic supply. Artificially manipulating prices creates greater uncertainty and economic harm," Schmitt said. National Cattlemen’s Beef Association CEO Colin Woodall echoed Schmitt and Wagner's comments about challenges facing the cattle industry's efforts to rebuild and their concerns about "flooding the market with government-subsidized, below-market beef." "Today's announcement and other market interventions throw cold water on the prospect of herd expansion and sacrifices long-term stability for short-term messaging,” he said. R-CALF USA CEO Bill Bullard said additional imports have provided "multinational beef packers and retailers with cheaper supplies, but they have not resulted in lower beef costs for consumers." “Most importantly, this policy undermines the producer confidence necessary to rebuild the U.S. cattle herd. Herd expansion takes years. Producers deciding whether to retain heifers today must have confidence that future cattle prices will justify that investment. Responding to cattle prices that finally encourage expansion with more lower-cost imported beef sends exactly the wrong signal," he said. ADVERTISEMENT Bullard urged the restoration of mandatory country of origin labeling "so consumers can distinguish American beef from imported beef." “We share the goal of rebuilding America’s cattle herd. But we cannot rebuild America’s domestic beef supply chain by increasing our dependency on foreign beef,” he said. Both National Farmers Union and South Dakota Farmers Union joined in Bullard's call for country of origin labeling. "Consumers deserve to know where their beef comes from, and American farmers and ranchers deserve credit for raising it. Imported beef is just a handout for monopoly meatpackers, who can mix cheap imported beef with American beef and pocket the difference, with no guarantee consumers ever see lower prices or ranchers see fair ones," NFU President Rob Larew said. "Mandatory country-of-origin labeling fixes that: It holds packers accountable and lets the market work honestly for everyone. The Senate Agriculture Committee has already taken steps to advance it. Congress should finish the job and pass this commonsense, bipartisan policy now." “This is not only bad for South Dakota’s cattle producers, but honestly, I am concerned for consumers because with imported beef, we do not know that it has been raised to the same safety standards as American farmers and ranchers follow," SDFU President Doug Sombke said. "When the president said it will be sold at a substantially lower price, this makes me extremely concerned about the quality of the meat. And without mandatory country of origin labeling, we do not even know where the beef is imported from. Here we are in the middle of a public health crisis over imported lettuce and now the president is OK importing beef in abundance.” Even a usual ally of the president, U.S. Rep. Julie Fedorchak, R-N.D., expressed her disappointment with Trump's announcement. “We all want lower grocery prices, but we cannot do so on the backs of North Dakota ranchers and producers. Importing foreign beef tariff-free — and selling it below market price — undercuts producers who are investing millions of dollars in an already risky business to rebuild their herds. At a time when ranchers need certainty to increase domestic production, this sends the wrong signal. And this timing, when our producers are taking feeder cattle to market, is especially bad," she said. “Any foreign beef sold here must meet the same rigorous inspection and safety standards as American-raised beef." ADVERTISEMENT She said she is in contact with USDA to learn how the agency will address those concerns and to get an update on ongoing investigations into the meatpacking industry. "Short-term market intervention will not lower prices over the long term. The lasting solution is to strengthen American cattle production and address the problems in the packing industry that are driving up prices,” she said.