U.S. cattle ranchers are struggling to meet demands from the Trump administration to lower beef prices. Justin Tupper, president of the U.S. Cattlemen's Association, joins with more.

Washington

U.S. cattle ranchers, represented by the United States Cattlemen's Association President Justin Tupper, have voiced disagreement with President Trump's recent call for lower beef prices. Tupper argues that while beef prices are high, they are only now reaching levels that allow ranchers to cover production costs and earn a living wage after years of break-even returns. 

The ranchers also oppose the government's plan to import more foreign beef, stating that it would mainly benefit large meat packers and importers rather than consumers or producers. The industry is currently facing historically low cattle numbers due to factors like drought and other crises, making it difficult to increase supply and reduce prices further.

Cattle ranchers struggle with Trump's request to lower beef prices

Joining me now for more on this is the United States Cattlemen's Association President Justin Tupper. Justin, thanks so much for joining us. So I've referenced this Argentina purchase earlier, which came as the USDA unveiled a new comprehensive plan to strengthen the beef industry. What's been the reaction from you and the membership about that? Thanks, Vlad. Thanks for having us. And we respectfully disagree that bringing in beef from foreign countries is going to bring down the prices. I think something we like to say is here in the United States, we raise the safest, best protein on the planet. We want to continue to do that. We think you bring in some of that foreign beef, the only ones that will benefit are the big four packers and the importers by buying it in a cheaper market and selling it in a much higher market. So we respectfully disagree and really push for U.S. beef to raise up their numbers. Has the president been responsive to the pushback that you and your membership and others here in the United States have signaled to him? We have reached out, I think, put in requests to discuss other options and some of the things that can benefit raising the cattle numbers, where historic low numbers due to quite a few different things, drought, crisis, lots of things have come to kind of make quite a special number here where low in cattle numbers we've been since the 1960s. Wow. All right. So you no doubt have seen this. The president addressed cattle ranchers directly in a post on Truth Social last week. He said if it weren't for him, the industry would be doing terribly and that you, meaning you and your members and other cattle ranchers in this country have to get your prices down. And I'm putting up the quote here so people can actually see. He says it would be nice if they, meaning the cattle ranchers, would understand that, but they also have to get their prices down because the consumer is a very big factor in my thinking also. What was your reaction and your reaction to other ranchers when you saw this? We definitely understand. We were seeing some of the best prices we've ever seen in the cattle industry and prices are high, but prices are now just finally catching up to the cost of production for a lot of these people and finally making some of these producers a living wage. We've been on break-even prices for a long, long time and we're finally getting them up there where we can make a living and try to make sure that generational ranching can continue. We would argue we're not sure the beef is too high. $6.50 for a pound of hamburger versus say a latte or a coffee in the morning for six or seven bucks or a bag of potato chips for five or six bucks. The nutritional value in beef is much higher. Justin, when you put it that way, I think a lot of people will see and agree with you. $6.50 for a pound of hamburger beef compared to a latte sounds pretty reasonable to me, too. Thank you very much, Justin. I'm hoping this gets resolved. I appreciate what you said about the generational aspect of farming in this country, not just for cattle ranchers, but across this country, which is at peril now. Thank you very much for joining us. Thanks, Glenn.

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