January 1, Trump’s Argentina Beef Move Riles Ranchers

Wyatt’s Take

• Trump wants to bring in Argentine beef to help lower prices here.
• American ranchers say they’re left behind and urge fixing problems at home.
• The government says rebuilding American herds will take time.

President Trump is considering buying beef from Argentina to help lower prices at the grocery store. Many American ranchers feel this idea doesn’t fit with putting America first, and they want support to fix things at home instead.

The Trump administration is aiming to help Argentina’s economy and find cheaper beef for Americans. The Treasury has promised a $40 billion bailout to Argentina, but buying their beef is just being talked about for now.

“President Trump and his cabinet are working every day to lower prices for consumers,” a USDA spokesperson said. “While prices for other proteins such as eggs, pork and chicken have declined in recent months, beef prices remain elevated. This is due to the perfect storm of sustained increase in consumer demand for beef coupled with a prolonged decrease in the supply of live cattle.”

Ranchers like Meriwether Farms and Todd Armstrong are upset by the plan. They say the trouble isn’t their fault, but that politicians have let big companies and foreign groups dominate the market. Some even call the move hypocritical because it goes against the America First message.

“We understand beef prices are high, and we admire your concern for all Americans, but this is not the fault of the American producer,” wrote Meriwether Farms to Trump. “This is the fault of politicians who have allowed BRICS-aligned entities to dominate the meat industry, that participate in price fixing and who also continually lie to their consumers.”

Todd Armstrong from Indiana said, “What frustrates me about this whole move is President Trump ran on an ‘America First’ program. I don’t see anything in this that puts America first. It’s hypocritical.”

Republicans in Congress, like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Sen. Tim Sheehy, say their voters want American beef prioritized. “At this point, help Americans only!” Greene said.

Trump has answered critics by saying tariffs he put in place help domestic ranchers, but that high prices make it hard on families. “The Cattle Ranchers, who I love, don’t understand that the only reason they are doing so well, for the first time in decades, is because I put Tariffs on cattle coming into the United States, including a 50% Tariff on Brazil,” he said this week. “If it weren’t for me, they would be doing just as they’ve done for the past 20 years — Terrible! It would be nice if they would understand that, but they also have to get their prices down, because the consumer is a very big factor in my thinking, also!”

There’s worry among local producers that small profit margins keep prices high and threaten family farms. Over the past 10 years, the U.S. has lost more than 17% of its family farms.

The Agriculture Department is working on trade deals abroad and promising to help rebuild herds at home, but they say this can’t be fixed overnight. Secretary Brooke Rollins announced a plan to cut red tape and supply more domestic beef in schools, but folks are still waiting to see results.

Read the full report here

Wyatt Matters

Middle America knows the value of hard work and wants support to keep family farms strong. When local ranchers are heard, rural communities can thrive and folks can put good American beef on the table.