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Joe Biden and the Democrats drove beef inflation to about six percent a year—more than twice the rate during the Trump years. There were many reasons why. Biden’s Green New Deal policies drove up the cost of fuel, feed, and fertilizer. His “eat soy” range war against ranchers restricted access to grazing lands. His drunken-sailor spending fueled historic food-price inflation. But all of these drivers were amplified — and exploited — by extreme market concentration in the beef industry. The Big Beef Four — Cargill, JBS (Brazil), Tyson Foods, and National Beef — control 80 to 85 percent of U.S....

Here’s the bottom line: America’s farmers need help — now. In my home state of Arkansas, for instance, our farmers are set to lose hundreds of dollars per acre on their soybean, corn, cotton and long-grain rice crops this year alone. The situation has gotten so bad that Arkansas cash crop receipts are now projected to fall by $617 million in 2025. Adding to these challenges...the contrast between the steep cost of inputs (such as seed, fertilizer and diesel) and the commodity prices that farmers receive for their crops is at its highest level in 25 years. Put differently, input...

CHICAGO, Nov 21 (Reuters) - Tyson Foods (TSN.N) will close a major beef plant in Lexington, Nebraska, with about 3,200 employees in January after U.S. cattle supplies dropped to their lowest level in nearly 75 years, the meatpacker said on Friday. The closure in the heart of cattle-feeding country signaled that supplies will remain tight, forcing meatpackers to pay steep prices for cattle to process into steaks and hamburgers. Beef prices have set records due to low supplies and strong demand, raising costs for consumers. President Donald Trump said last month that he was working to bring down prices. Tyson...

Denmark’s farmers have recently been reporting that their cows are collapsing and suffering illness after eating feed containing a methane-reducing additive called Bovaer. Use of this feed is now legally required for many farms in Denmark as part of its national climate policy. Some farmers claim their cattle experienced severe symptoms after eating the additive-infused feed, including collapse, lethargy, reduced feed intake, fever, diarrhea, miscarriages, and significant drops in milk production. Based on these complaints, another Scandinavian country poised to implement the same policy is halting the move. In Norway, the government had mandated the use of Bovaer as an...

A death in New Jersey is now being called the first-ever linked to a meat allergy caused by a tick bite. Doctors say a 47-year-old man who passed away in the summer of last year had a severe reaction to a steak after spending a day in the outdoors. He became severely ill but recovered, so he thought nothing of it. Then, two weeks later, he died after eating a hamburger, according to officials. The allergy is known as "Alpha-gal syndrome." The allergy is caused by the bite of the Lone Star tick. According to University of Virginia Health, people...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. grocers and food companies ranging from Walmart (WMT) to Smithfield Foods (SFD) are bracing for a dip in November sales if federal food aid benefits lapse for the first time due to the ongoing government shutdown. The shutdown has imperiled next month's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as food stamps, which serves nearly 42 million people.

Republican senators on Tuesday railed against the administration’s plans to import more beef during a closed-door meeting with Vice President JD Vance.p> Officials said last week they would allow Argentina to ship four times as much beef to the US as it previously did at a lower tariff rate. Ranchers immediately panned the move, as did the lawmakers who represent them: Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., warned “this isn’t the way to do it.”Vance sought to “explain what the administration is thinking” in Tuesday’s meeting, one Republican senator in attendance told Semafor.“There were a number that really expressed …...

President Trump is facing a growing political problem in America’s agricultural heartland, as he looks to import Argentinian beef to help bring down prices for U.S. grocery shoppers. The Trump administration is reportedly looking to quadruple low-tariff imports from Argentina, raising the quota to 80,000 metric tons per year. The news has enraged America’s beef farmers — and the Republican senators who represent them. “This isn’t the way to do it,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) said of Trump’s efforts to drive down prices. “It’s created a lot of uncertainty in that market. So I’m hoping that the White...

President Donald Trump’s administration intensified efforts on Wednesday to combat rising beef prices, calling on domestic cattle ranchers to lower prices for consumers while also releasing a multi-agency strategy to restock the nation’s depleted cattle herd. Beef prices in the United States have eclipsed record levels after a prolonged drought that has impacted grazing lands and elevated feed expenses, forcing ranchers to reduce herd sizes. The U.S. cattle inventory, currently at its lowest since 1951, has been shrinking amid import restrictions, including the suspension of Mexican cattle shipments due to pest concerns and tariffs constraining Brazilian supplies, all while consumer...

President Donald Trump rebuked cattle ranchers after they criticized his idea to import Argentinian beef, writing on Truth Social on Wednesday they “don’t understand” his policies—as the proposal has prompted criticism from Republican lawmakers in farm states while consumers face record-high beef prices.

@RepThomasMassie Last night, @SchmittNYC & I discussed the President’s proposal to purchase more beef from Argentina. The America First solution to rising beef prices is my bill, the PRIME Act. It would empower farmers to sell directly to consumers without corporate middlemen.

<p>President Donald Trump scolded America’s cattle ranchers in a Wednesday Truth Social rant that saw him declare that they’d be in dire straits without him.</p><p>Trump has faced criticism over his suggestion that the United States might buy more beef from Argentina.</p>

Many GOP senators raised concerns directly with President Donald Trump on Tuesday about his idea to buy more beef from Argentina, according to four Republicans who attended a lunch hosted at the White House. The Rose Garden lunch was initially scheduled to celebrate GOP unity on the shutdown and clearing Trump’s nominees, but farm-state Republicans have been on edge after the president announced Sunday that he was considering a deal with one of American ranchers’ biggest competitors in order to lower food prices. Trump told lawmakers that he was worried about consumer beef prices in the U.S. but also worried...

The beef industry is battling multiple challenges: a prolonged drought across key cattle states, record‑high feed costs and the smallest U.S. cattle herd in 75 years.Beef prices in the United States are at record highs heading into the holiday season — and tariffs aren’t the only reason. At Oak Barn Beef in West Point, Nebraska, family tradition runs deep. Owner and operator Hannah Klitz is a fifth‑generation cattle producer. Alongside her husband, she sells farm‑to‑table beef to the local community and ships products nationwide. "Quarter four is normally our busiest quarter, just because of all of the gifting — and...

A report from the USDA last year estimated an outbreak of screwworm could cost Texas at least $1.8 billion due to livestock deaths, labor costs and medication.The first human case of the flesh-eating parasite new world screwworm has been detected in the United States, the Department of Health and Human Services said early Monday. The case, related to a person who had recently traveled to El Salvador, was confirmed to be screwworm by the CDC on Aug. 4, HHS spokesman Andrew G. Nixon confirmed to Reuters, who first reported the story. "The risk to public health in the United States...

Hours after savoring that perfectly grilled steak on a beautiful summer evening, your body turns traitor, declaring war on the very meal you just enjoyed. You begin to feel excruciating itchiness, pain or even swelling that can escalate to the point of requiring emergency care. The culprit isn’t food poisoning – it’s the fallout from a tick bite you may have gotten months earlier and didn’t even notice. This delayed allergic reaction is called alpha-gal syndrome. While it’s commonly called the “red meat allergy,” that nickname is misleading, because alpha-gal syndrome can cause strong reactions to many products, beyond just...

SAO PAULO, July 29 (Reuters) - Brazilian beef-packers' lobby Abiec, which represents companies including JBS and Marfrig (MRFG3.SA), opens new tab, on Tuesday estimated losses of $1 billion if the United States applies a 50% tariff on Brazilian exports The U.S. is Brazil's second biggest beef export destination after China. Roberto Perosa, head of Abiec, said Brazilian beef companies had expected to sell some 400,000 tons by yearend to the U.S., but imposition of a 50% tariff would make sales "inviable." No market can immediately replace the U.S. based on the sheer volume demanded by the importers and the price...

The price of beef rose sharply, with ground beef averaging $6.11 per pound (up 11.8% year-over-year) and steak increasing by 8%. Nonalcoholic beverages, especially coffee, also saw price hikes, with coffee alone rising 2.2% in June. Fresh fruit and vegetable prices increased, notably citrus (up 2.3%). Chocolate-based products are becoming costlier due to record-high cocoa prices, prompting major manufacturers to plan double-digit price hikes. While most food categories saw inflation-driven increases, egg prices provided relief, dropping 7.5% in May after a 40% surge in 2024. However, upcoming tariffs, such as a 50% U.S. duty on Brazilian imports, may drive future...

Avian Flu Wiped Out Poultry. Now the Screwworm Is Coming for Beef.First came bird flu, which led to the culling of large swaths of the nation’s poultry flocks and the soaring egg prices that helped undermine President Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s re-election. Now, ranchers in Texas and officials at the Agriculture Department are raising the next alarm: the New World screwworm. Texas livestock producers and ranchers fear the United States is ill-equipped to handle a potential outbreak of screwworm, whose incursion into the country appears increasingly likely. With beef prices already soaring, the screwworm, whose Latin name roughly translates to...

Get that meat outta here. In a world of various kinds of meat alternatives — it can be hard to tell what’s real or not these days. A cattle rancher recently took to social media to share what he discovered to be a “glued meat product” and is instructing others how to spot one when ordering steak at a restaurant. Rockin’ W Ranch Cattle Co. is a family-owned Angus beef ranch that prides itself on being hormone and antibiotic-free. In an Instagram post that has sent waves across the meat-loving community, one of the company’s cattle ranchers is seen picking...