What’s the Beef?

While this move may sound good to consumers, for those of us raising cattle here in the Midwest, it’s a gut punch that couldn’t come at a worse time. As the executive director of the Wisconsin Farmers Union and a farmer myself who raises a herd of Angus beef cattle in Chippewa County, Wisconsin, I’m painfully aware that we’re in the season when many of us farmers are weaning calves and hauling them to market. It’s a make-or-break moment for our yearly income. 

The announcement has already sent ripples through the futures market, with live and feeder cattle prices dipping over the past week in a sharp reminder of how quickly uncertainty from Washington can shake confidence in an already fragile farm economy.

While beef prices at the grocery store have admittedly been high, the farmer’s share of that food dollar has been shrinking for decades. The reality is that the profits from high consumer prices aren’t landing in rural communities—they’re being captured higher up the supply chain by a handful of powerful meatpackers that dominate the market. 

As National Farmers Union President Rob Larew noted in a recent press release, “Lowering beef prices for consumers starts with restoring fairness in the marketplace, not by importing beef from Argentina and undercutting American ranchers.”

Years of tight margins and unchecked consolidation have already pushed many family farms to the brink. Increasing imports of foreign beef as a fix for high prices shows how far federal policy has drifted from the realities of family farm agriculture. Congress’ inability to pass a farm bill—now two years overdue—adds to the feelings that rural America is being forgotten.

The sting is sharper knowing that President Trump just approved $40 billion in U.S. taxpayer-backed aid to stabilize Argentina’s peso and support his friend Javier Milei, Argentina’s self-described anarcho-capitalist president. The “deal” was made days before Argentina’s midterm elections on October 26 as Milei’s party was struggling in the polls. And in response, Argentina turned around to ink new soybean deals with China that hurt American crop farmers. Now we’re expected to reward them again by buying their beef? That’s not an America-first policy. That’s America-last.

Higher retail beef prices reflect a classic supply-and-demand squeeze: demand for protein is strong while the domestic cattle herd is at its smallest level in decades. That shortfall stems from a “perfect storm” of multi-year droughts and extreme weather, high feed and input costs that forced producers to cull breeding stock, and structural pressures in processing and trade that have limited how quickly supplies can normalize. 

Rather than undermining farmers’ livelihoods, we should let the domestic market correct itself and President Trump should turn an eye toward the other end of the supply chain. 

The meatpacking industry is dominated by four meatpackers, including Brazil-owned JBS, who have pulled in record profits in recent years. The concept that pouring foreign beef onto the U.S. market is going to suppress consumer prices feels unlikely to me, given that these dominant corporations have a track record of market manipulation. That isn’t just speculative: The Big Four meatpackers have been charged with price-fixing lawsuits that are yielding hundreds of millions in settlements this year. 

There are better, practical steps policymakers can take that support both consumers and producers: 

• Enforce antitrust laws to restore competition in meatpacking. 
• Reinstate clear country-of-origin labeling so shoppers can make informed choices. 
• Strengthen programs that sustain rural producers. 
• Invest in modernizing the U.S.-owned meat processing facilities that serve America’s ranchers in their own communities and that can contribute to stronger local food supply chains and regional economies. Wisconsin has had some great success with the Meat Processor Infrastructure Grants and Meat Talent Development Program.
• Address the consolidation and resulting rising costs in agricultural inputs that is straining farmers’ profit margins and making it difficult for them to retain heifers and grow their herds. 

These approaches invest in a resilient domestic food system instead of short-term fixes that shift risk onto farmers. I, for one, would rather invest in our U.S. farmers and the security of the domestic food supply, than relying on imports from a country known to be battling hoof-and-mouth disease. With no mandatory Country-of-Origin Labeling (COOL)—and foreign beef repackaged on U.S. soil still able to carry a “Product of the USA” label—this policy further erodes transparency and undermines consumers who want to back American farmers and ranchers. 

History shows what happens when competition disappears: Farmers earn less even as grocery prices climb, and fairness erodes across the supply chain. Policymakers should bring farmers to the table to shape solutions that truly put America first by investing in those who raise the food, not importing it from halfway around the world.

Danielle EndvickMore by this author →

Danielle Endvick is the Executive Director of Wisconsin Farmers Union, a grassroots organization advocating for policies that support family farms, rural communities, and a fair food system. She raises cattle on her family’s Runamuck Ranch in northern Wisconsin.