Trump beef import comments worry Central Texas ranchers
The Trump administration considers Argentina imports as cattle supply hits 75-year low
MCGREGOR, Texas (KWTX) - President Trump’s recent comments about importing beef from Argentina to lower grocery store prices are raising concerns among Central Texas cattle ranchers.
With cattle supply down, Trump said his administration is looking at importing beef from Argentina to bring prices at the grocery store down.
“The only price we have that’s high is beef and we’ll get that down. One of the things we’re thinking about doing is beef from Argentina,” Trump said.
Gary Joiner, Texas Farm Bureau communications director, said those comments have already affected the cattle market.
“Those numbers would reflect that. They’ve been down as a result,” Joiner said.
The comments concern local ranchers like Blayr Barnard, who raises cattle in McGregor.
“I think it was that mostly it was very scary for the U.S. farmer and rancher as to how comments like that could make a difference in the market,” Barnard said.
Cattle inventory at historic low
The market is seeing the lowest cattle inventory in 75 years. According to the USDA, as of July there are only 94 million head of cattle in the United States.
“The U.S. beef market is a reflection of supply and demand. There is high demand for U.S. beef and there’s little inventory because of drought and pressures over the past few years that have taken our U.S. cattle herd to the lowest level in 75 years,” Joiner said.
Barnard said her business, Barnard Beef Cattle Co., is doing well, but a bigger reason for the high cost of locally sourced beef is the rising cost of raising cattle.
“We’ve had an increase in cost of equipment, fertilizer and land costs,” Barnard said.
She said this will lead to fewer ranchers wanting to sell beef.
“It’s made our margins very thin. And with the cost of everything else going up, to come in and say ‘We’re going to lower the cost of beef’ has really been a problem for many out there to see how that works with our business models,” Barnard said.
While there’s no formal plan for the U.S. to import beef from Argentina, Barnard hopes people will choose the local option.
“There’s very few of us out there to feed the world and we have to be very efficient with what we do,” Barnard said.
President Trump posted on Truth Social Wednesday, calling for cattle ranchers to lower the price of beef, and giving credit to his administration’s tariffs on beef imports.
The Secretary of Agriculture announced a plan Wednesday to increase the cattle supply in the U.S. through deregulation, which she says will increase beef processing capacity.
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