President Trump says the beef deal announced Friday “will reduce prices for Americans while giving space for our Great American Beef Herd to grow again.” Mississippi farmers and producers contend the White House is creating an unlevel playing field against U.S. farmers.
The Mississippi Cattlemen’s Association and the Mississippi Farm Bureau Federation are pushing back on President Donald Trump’s plan to allow 300,000 metric tons of government-subsidized ground beef into the U.S. supply chain.
On Friday, Trump posted on Truth Social that he had concluded a deal “to substantially lower the price of ground beef for working American families.”
“As everyone knows, under President Biden, beef prices soared at their fastest rate and the American beef herd fell to its smallest size in modern history,” Trump wrote. “As we work to rebuild this herd and help our ranchers, for the next 90 days, the United States will allow up to 300,000 metric tons of product for ground beef to be imported with no out of quota tariff.”
Trump added that he had a commitment that the beef would be sold at 25% below current market prices.
“This deal will reduce prices for Americans while giving space for our Great American Beef Herd to grow again,” the President said.
However, soon after the announcement, the Mississippi Cattlemen’s Association released a statement questioning the move, saying that flooding the U.S. market with government-subsidized foreign beef is not the way to rebuild the American cow herd or strengthen our domestic cattle industry.
“We are already seeing significant effects in the cattle markets following this announcement. This decision creates additional market volatility and uncertainty at exactly the time of year when many Mississippi cattle producers are preparing to market their calves. For these producers, even a relatively small decline in cattle prices can have a significant impact on the profitability of their operations,” the association stated. “Fundamentally, this policy does nothing to encourage rebuilding the U.S. cow herd.”
Further, the Cattlemen’s Association said cattle producers are already facing higher input costs, particularly for fuel and fertilizer, and are now looking at the prospect of lower cattle prices.
“Higher production costs combined with downward pressure on cattle prices will not encourage producers to retain heifers, expand their herds, or invest in additional cattle production,” the group added. “At best, this decision will delay efforts to rebuild the U.S. cow herd. At worst, it could cause long-term damage to those rebuilding efforts and further discourage American cattle producers from expanding production.”
The Mississippi Farm Bureau Federation agreed.
Mike McCormick, president of the federation, said his federation was highly disappointed in the President’s announced plan.
“This announcement is certainly not a move that we would consider aligned with the Trump Administration’s ‘America First’ agenda. It will have a major impact on cattle prices in Mississippi at exactly the time many producers are marketing their cattle,” McCormick said. “The White House is creating an unlevel playing field against U.S. farmers who are already burdened by higher input costs as a result of tariffs and the Iran war. This decision will open the flood gates for foreign adversaries to enter the U.S. market tariff-free.”
McCormick went on to say that contrary to the Trump Administration’s belief, “this policy does not help the U.S. herd-rebuilding efforts and could possibly do permanent harm.”
“Instead, the Administration should focus its time and energy on reducing fuel and input costs for American agriculture that could result in lowering prices for all American consumers. We are deeply concerned this policy will have long-lasting unintended consequences on American food security,” McCormick said.
The Mississippi Cattlemen’s Association encouraged the President to focus on policies that lower fuel and other input costs for all Americans, reconsider the decision, and allow natural market forces to work in the cattle and beef markets.
“American cattle producers are ready to produce the beef American consumers demand,” the association said. “They need certainty and a fair marketplace, not government actions that create additional volatility and put downward pressure on cattle prices.”
-- Article credit to Frank Corder for the Magnolia Tribune --
