Ohio Ag Net | Ohio's Country Journal Ohio Ag Net | Ohio's Country Journal 
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins announced a new plan to support America’s cattle producers. The document, titled “USDA Plan to Fortify the American Beef Industry: Strengthening Ranches, Rebuilding Capacity, and Lowering Costs for Consumers,” was released Oct. 22.
“America’s food supply chain is a national security priority for the Trump Administration. We are committed to ensuring the American people have an affordable source of protein and that America’s ranchers have a strong economic environment where they can continue to operate for generations to come,” said Secretary Brooke Rollins. “At USDA we are protecting our beef industry and incentivizing new ranchers to take up the noble vocation of ranching. Today, USDA will immediately expedite deregulatory reforms, boost processing capacity, including getting more locally raised beef into schools, and working across the government to fix longstanding common-sense barriers for ranchers like outdated grazing restrictions.”
The plan focuses on three pillars:
- Protecting and improving the business of ranching
- Expanding processing, consumer transparency and market access
- Building demand alongside domestic supply
Within the plan, the USDA outlines several initiatives for each pillar, including creating a grazing plan with the Department of the Interior to expand grazing on federal lands, hosting regional listening sessions for ranchers, promoting country-of-origin labels on beef products and supporting school systems in purchasing local beef, and more.
The full plan can be found here.
The announcement comes as the administration faces backlash from American cattle producers. On Sunday, President Donald Trump told reporters he was considering purchasing beef from Argentina to lower consumer beef prices. Markets responded immediately with lower prices.
On Oct. 22, ahead of the USDA plan’s release, Trump posted on Truth Social:
“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. 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!
The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association responded on social media:
“The reality is that ranchers’ success is driven by their own hard work. America’s cattlemen and women operate in one of the most competitive marketplaces in the world. U.S. cattle producers are proud to provide the safest, highest-quality beef on earth. We simply ask that the government not undercut them by importing more Argentinian beef in order to manipulate prices.
Cattlemen and women cannot stand behind President Trump while he undercuts the future of family farmers and ranchers by importing Argentinian beef. It is imperative that President Trump and Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins let cattle markets work without interference.
If the administration is truly an ally of America’s cattle producers, we call on him to abandon this effort to manipulate markets and focus instead on completing the promised New World Screwworm facility in Texas; make additional investments that protect the domestic cattle herd from foreign animal diseases such as FMD; and address regulatory burdens, such as delisting of the gray wolf and addressing the scourge of black vultures.”
