A U.S. cattle group is supporting President Trump’s tariff strategy. R-CALF’s Bill Bullard says that the group has been on board from day one.
According to Bullard, “Our organization was the only one that publicly came out and said, ‘We support these wholeheartedly.’ And we explain, for example, that whenever our price point in the cattle industry reaches a level that would incentivize our industry to begin expanding our cattle herd, we see a flood of imports and we saw that in 2024. We have a 1.6 billion pound deficit in the trade in cattle and from 2024, and that’s a 37% increase than the last five year average.”
Bullard says that the recent surge in beef imports to meet consumer demand has undermined American farmers and ranchers. He says that makes it harder to attract new producers and limits herd expansion.
“We argue that those 25% tariffs were absolutely necessary in order to level the playing field. We’re importing beef from countries that have lower wages, that hvae lower production standards, that have lower—less stringent environmental standards, and that have a huge advantage because they have weaker currencies, and our producers are experiencing a situation where these imports are displacing domestic production,” he explains.
USDA projects beef imports could reach nearly 4.5 billion pounds this year.
Jake Charleston, with Specialty Risk Insurance, joins us now for an industry update and advice for cattle producers as they consider options for managing the risks of a murky market.
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