WASHINGTON — The Texas agriculture commissioner and the Independent Cattlemen’s Association of Texas are among those who have come out against President Donald Trump’s plan to lower the price of beef. They said his plan to import 300,000 tons of ground beef undercuts ranchers in Texas and across the country.
Anthony Thomas has ranched and raised cattle all his life. His farm-to-table beef business is entering its seventh year in the Houston area, and last week he sold more beef than ever. By now, Thomas said he knows all about the demand for beef.
“There’s only so much burger and so much fajita per animal that we have in the United States, so there is some trim that needs to come from other countries in order to keep up with the demand that we have here,” Thomas told Spectrum News.
When Trump announced that the U.S. would allow imports of up to 300,000 tons of ground beef without out-of-quota tariffs, Thomas immediately had concerns.
“This is not a fix for the cattle industry. This is a Band-Aid, and I think it’s just a bit of a smokescreen,” Thomas said.
The average price of a pound of 100% ground beef was $6.85 last month, according to the federal government, a more than 50% jump from five years ago.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, a native Texan, told Spectrum News she did not know from which countries the beef would be imported but addressed affordability concerns.
“There’s a lot of ground beef that’s sitting in other countries that would potentially help serve Americans, especially lower-income Americans who really lean into the lean ground beef. And so this is a very short-term fix from the president’s perspective, that he believed necessary to get lower-cost beef onto American plates,” Rollins said.
Texas is the top cattle-producing state in the United States, holding over 12 million head of cattle. But nationally, the domestic cattle herd sits at a 75-year low.
“This is very short-term focused. I think it’s unclear how much real impact on prices there would be,” said David Anderson, a professor and extension economist at Texas A&M University.
“What we really need is for ranchers, cattle producers, to have the ability to expand their herds,” he said.
Anderson said expanding the herd is what would drive them down long-term. But he said across the country, there has been severe drought.
“When you’re in a drought, you don’t produce enough grass. There’s nothing for the cattle to eat, and that becomes the constraining factor to growth. Even though the market’s telling us to expand, the weather’s not letting us,” Anderson said. “It’s really time for ranchers to expand to take that young calf. She grows up and becomes a cow, starts having calves herself, and that becomes beef production in the future. That’s how we grow.”
Thomas said consumers have to balance the cost of beef with the value of supporting American ranchers and the quality of the products they’re buying.
“Understand that we’re in a huge drought. Ranchers need help when there is no grass so that they can feed their livestock. I think the packers should be limited on how much beef, if any beef, should be exported out of this country. I think we should feed Americans first, and I think Americans just need thorough education and knowledge of where their food actually comes from,” Thomas said.
Because for ranchers raising cattle, the question is not just what beef costs today, but whether they can keep up with the demand in the future.