JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – President Trump is taking action to bring down the price of beef at the grocery store, but Florida farmers say the plan could hurt them at a very critical time.
Starting Tuesday, the administration is expanding the amount of lean beef trimmings that can enter the United States at lower tariff rates.
The foreign beef will come in at about 25% below market price primarily for use in ground beef.
Why now?
Beef prices are at record levels, and the nation’s cattle herd is at its lowest point in 75 years.
President Trump says increasing the supply of foreign beef is the fastest way to bring prices down for consumers.
The plan allows up to 300,000 metric tons of additional beef imports over 90 days; that’s roughly 661 million pounds.
The import window lasts 90 days.
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Florida farmers say the timing couldn’t be worse
The American Farm Bureau Federation is opposing the move, saying flooding the market with underpriced imports could undermine domestic production and hurt farmers long after the temporary tariff relief ends.
St. Johns County rancher and Florida Farm Bureau President Jeb Smith says American cattle producers are already under enormous pressure.
“I believe that if we have America first, that we should put our farmers first, because food security is national security. I think one of the best things we can do is be able to provide for our own and feed our own people,” Smith said.
“We have pests, we have disease. We now have trade issues that continue to be threats to our producers,” he added.
Smith says a downturn in the market could force some producers to make a painful decision, one that goes far beyond the cattle industry.
“We realize that if we don’t have that viability, a lot of times our producers have no other choice but to sell it to a developer and it becomes houses or strip malls,” Smith said.
Deep roots in St. Johns County
Cattle ranching has deep roots in St. Johns County and Smith says the stakes extend far beyond this county’s borders.
“It started in Florida and secondarily to Manatee County. I’ll give them their credit, St. Johns County was next. We have 9.7 million acres of ag land in the state of Florida. Almost half of that is in cattle production,” Smith said.
Smith says lower prices today could discourage farmers from expanding their herds tomorrow, raising a bigger question about the long-term future of domestic beef production.
“Do we become more dependent on foreign production rather than domesticated production? Those are questions that a lot of producers are going to have to ask,” he said.
His message to the administration is simple, reconsider.
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