{"id":2648160,"date":"2026-08-22T06:13:02","date_gmt":"2026-08-22T10:13:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignif-trump-wants-to-reduce-beef-prices-he-should-help-struggling-farmers-grow-their-herds\/"},"modified":"2026-08-22T06:24:50","modified_gmt":"2026-08-22T10:24:50","slug":"utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignif-trump-wants-to-reduce-beef-prices-he-should-help-struggling-farmers-grow-their-herds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignif-trump-wants-to-reduce-beef-prices-he-should-help-struggling-farmers-grow-their-herds\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump Should Help Struggling Farmers Grow Their Herds"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Futm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignif-trump-wants-to-reduce-beef-prices-he-should-help-struggling-farmers-grow-their-herds%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2648160&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>President Trump&#8217;s recent plan to allow increased imports of ground beef into the United States without tariffs aims to lower prices for consumers. Though,this approach is short-sighted and could worsen the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-blames-russia-saudi-arabia-for-rising-gas-prices\/\" title=\"Biden Blames Russia, Saudi Arabia For Rising Gas ...\">long-term supply<\/a> issues in the cattle industry,ultimately leading to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/how-much-danger-does-the-new-world-screwworm-in-cattle-pose-to-humans\/\" title=\"How much danger does the New World screwworm in ... pose to humans?\">higher beef prices<\/a> over time. The cyclical nature of beef production,which depends heavily on availability of breeding stock and is influenced by rising costs for feed,fertilizer,and fuel,makes supply instability common. During periods of high prices, farmers tend to sell their stock rather than breed, reducing future supply. Importing foreign beef may temporarily lowers prices but discourages domestic producers from maintaining or expanding herds, <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >risking sustained capacity reductions-exemplified<\/a> by plant closures from major processors like Tyson and JBS. Historically, similar policies in sectors like lumber have lead to long-term industry decline despite ample raw materials. Experts, including Sean Davis of The Federalist, advocate for policies that promote heifer retention as the best solution to ensure enduring long-term beef supply rather than relying on imports.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>While well-intentioned, President Trump\u2019s plan to temporarily permit more foreign beef imports into America without <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/us-customs-races-to-implement-trumps-trade-regime\/\" title=\"US Customs races to implement Trump&#039;s trade regime\">paying higher tariffs<\/a> will only exacerbate the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/drew-johnson-how-companies-can-ward-off-vulture-investors-and-save-american-capitalism\/\" title=\"Drew Johnson: How Companies Can Ward Off Vulture Investors and Save American Capitalism\">long-term stock<\/a> shortage in the cattle industry, and it will directly lead to <em>higher<\/em> long-term beef prices.<\/p>\n<p>Trump <a href=\"https:\/\/truthsocial.com\/@realDonaldTrump\/117133120342300539\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">announced<\/a> Friday that the United States \u201cwill allow up to 300,000 metric tons of product for ground beef to be imported with no out of quota tariff\u201d for the next 90 days, and that such product \u201cwill be sold at 25 percent below current market prices.\u201d While touted by the president as an effort to reduce ground beef prices for American families, the policy shift was met with <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/USRepMikeFlood\/status\/2090857478120497582?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">concerned<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/SenatorFischer\/status\/2090863715016954219?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">pushback<\/a> from <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/SteveDaines\/status\/2090887788845760514?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">lawmakers<\/a> representing rural states responsible for U.S. cattle production. <\/p>\n<p>Beef is a very cyclical industry, largely driven by the fact that it takes nine months to create a new calf, and another year or two (at a minimum) to bring it to market and process it. Because of the difficulty of predicting demand that far out, plus the difficulty of matching supply to that demand, we end up with big swings in prices in every five-to-10-year cycle.<\/p>\n<p>Right now, we are at the price peak in the cycle. The only way to bring prices back down is to increase the supply, and that can only happen when farmers choose to retain cows to breed and grow the stock instead of selling them today. This is called heifer retention. When prices are high, farmers want to sell stock. When they\u2019re low, farmers want to hold back the stock.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s the revenue side. Then there\u2019s the cost side. Beef costs are driven by the three F\u2019s: feed, fertilizer, and fuel. Right now, the costs of all three are through the roof.<\/p>\n<p>Drought has driven up the costs of hay and corn, so both raising and finishing cattle is more expensive. Fertilizer costs have been high for years, due in part to the war in Ukraine. And gas prices have also been nuts because of Iran.<\/p>\n<p>When costs are high, it makes more sense to sell a heifer than to retain it and breed it. Now imagine what happens when you are at a cyclical peak, leading to high prices, at the same time costs are sky-high: Stock gets sold off instead of being bred, and the supply shrinks. Not good.<\/p>\n<p>So wouldn\u2019t that mean imports are a great way to fill the gap? NOT AT ALL. Why not?<\/p>\n<p>A sudden surge of foreign imports means a short-term (and only a short-term) dip in prices (at best), and that will lead domestic producers to sell even more of their stock right now to get ahead of the dip.<\/p>\n<p>But it\u2019s even worse than that. As stocks dwindle, processors will reduce capacity. They can\u2019t afford to run seven days a week long-term if the long-term supply is dwindling and only providing four or five days\u2019 worth of cattle to process.<\/p>\n<p>So not only will imports not fix the long-term domestic supply problem, but they will actually result in long-term \u2014 perhaps even permanent \u2014 production capacity reductions as well. This isn\u2019t a theoretical problem constrained to an economics textbook.<\/p>\n<p>This is already happening in the United States. Tyson, one of the biggest beef processors in the country, just <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sltrib.com\/news\/2026\/08\/16\/difficult-day-tyson-foods-close\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">announced<\/a> it\u2019s shutting down a massive facility in Utah due to lack of supply to process. It\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tysonfoods.com\/news\/news-releases\/2026\/8\/tyson-foods-announces-network-restructuring-beef-business-strengthen-long\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">closing<\/a> another facility in Illinois and selling off a third one in Washington. JBS, another massive processor, <a href=\"https:\/\/jbsfoodsgroup.com\/articles\/jbs-usa-announces-network-changes-to-strengthen-operations\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">shut down<\/a> plants in Pennsylvania and Tennessee earlier this year. The biggest domestic processors are radically reducing their processing capacity because the long-term stock is too low to support it.<\/p>\n<p>And if you want to know what happens when domestic industrial capacity shutdowns are paired with foreign imports, look no further than the American timber industry after Canada started dumping its subsidized lumber into our markets. Prices for domestic lumber were artificially pushed down, lumber processing capacity cratered, and within a matter of years, America\u2019s lumber industry was destroyed, even though we had more than enough raw timber.<\/p>\n<p>All because of short-sighted trade policy that ignored the obvious long-term effect of imports on supply and production capacity.<\/p>\n<p>Instead of looking for short-term Band-Aids to mask the beef price problem heading into the midterms, the administration should instead focus on ways to incentivize heifer retention in order to increase long-term cattle supply.<\/p>\n<p>That is the <em>only<\/em> way through this.<\/p>\n<figure>\n<p><span><\/p>\n<blockquote data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<div lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">\n<p>While well-intentioned, this will only exacerbate the long-term stock shortage in the cattle industry, and it will directly lead to HIGHER long-term beef prices.<\/p>\n<p>Beef is a very cyclical industry, largely driven by the fact that it takes 9 months to create a new calf, and another\u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/IBZrW6dVB0\">https:\/\/t.co\/IBZrW6dVB0<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u2014 Sean Davis (@seanmdav) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/seanmdav\/status\/2090921414593323027?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 21, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><\/span> <\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<hr>\n<p>      Sean Davis is CEO and co-founder of The Federalist. He previously worked as an economic policy adviser to Gov. Rick Perry, as CFO of Daily Caller, and as chief investigator for Sen. Tom Coburn. He was named by The Hill as one of the top congressional staffers under the age of 35 for his role in spearheading the enactment of the law that created USASpending.gov. Sean received a BBA in finance from Texas Tech University and an MBA in finance and entrepreneurial management from the Wharton School. He can be reached via e-mail at <a href=\"http:\/\/thefederalist.com\/mailto:sean@thefederalist.com\">sean@thefederalist.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Import plan worsens US cattle shortage, raising long-term beef prices<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":730,"featured_media":2648161,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Cattle.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[15721,11779,84526,3723,3634],"class_list":["post-2648160","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-agriculture","tag-farmers","tag-herds","tag-support","tag-trump"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Cattle.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2648160","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/730"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2648160"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2648160\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2648169,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2648160\/revisions\/2648169"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2648161"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2648160"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2648160"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2648160"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}