RICHMOND, VA. (RFD NEWS) — President Donald Trump is facing criticism over his decision to reduce tariffs on some foreign beef in an effort to lower grocery prices.
Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger recently sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins calling the policy “catastrophic” and raising concerns about its potential impact on cattle producers.
Gov. Spanberger joined us on Tuesday’s Market Day Report to discuss her concerns and the steps Virginia is taking to support its cattle industry.
Concerns Over Foreign Beef Imports
In her interview with RFD News, Spanberger said agriculture is Virginia’s number one private industry and the state has more than 21,000 predominantly family-run cattle operations.
She said Virginia cattle producers already face challenges including drought conditions, reduced hay production, higher input costs, rising fuel costs, consolidation, and a lack of localized processing.
“We have more than 21,000 predominantly family-run cattle operations across our Commonwealth. These are family farmers who are already facing significant challenges,” she said. “We’ve had drought conditions, so hay production has been down. They’ve had input costs from bringing hay in from other states. Of course, fuel costs have risen because of the war with Iran. And just challenge after challenge, our cattle producers have risen to the occasion. We’ve got consolidation and a lack of localized processing. All of these challenges have impacted these more than 21,000 family farms — and now we are seeing an announcement from the president that he wants to import more than 80 million pounds of foreign-produced beef.”
Spanberger said importing more than 80 million pounds of foreign-produced beef at a subsidized rate could flood the market and make it harder for Virginia and other American producers to compete.
“The idea that we would do it at a subsidized rate, basically flooding the market and creating a significant challenge for our Virginia or other American producers, a challenge for them to even be able to compete,” she continued. “It is so damaging in the long term in terms of what this might mean.”
Her comments are voiced in support of the Virginia Farm Bureau, Virginia Cattlemen’s Association and National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, which have all also spoken out against the policy.
Virginia Verified Beef Program
Spanberger pointed to the Virginia Verified Beef Program as one way her administration is supporting the state’s cattle industry.
“The Verified Beef Program is a labeling program. That way, folks who want to support the local cattle industry here in the Commonwealth have the ability to do so. And certainly, as we’re going to see an increased influx of foreign-produced beef into the American market under this policy, being able to make that choice when you’re out buying your beef, to know that not only are you buying American, but you’re buying and supporting a local Virginia farmer. That is a major priority.
Spanberger said the program gives consumers an opportunity to support both American beef and local Virginia farmers. She also highlighted the state’s full funding of agricultural best management practices, which provide voluntary conservation practices to help offset producers’ costs.
The administration has also launched the Farming, Forestry and Prosperity Plan, which Spanberger said is designed to support agriculture and forestry as key drivers of Virginia’s economy.
Working to Expand the Herd
Spanberger said the state is working with producers and processors to address barriers to expanding Virginia’s cattle herd.
With drought conditions affecting parts of the state and hay production, she said Virginia plans to support farmers with the additional hay needed to get through the winter feeding cycle. The state has also revamped its process for distributing financial support to producers affected by extreme weather, including Hurricane Helene.
“Everything that we can do, every sort of lever from a state government perspective, to try and mitigate the impacts of what we’re seeing, both from, you know, what I would call very bad federal policy, but also the natural challenges and the ebbs and flows that farmers are accustomed to, whether it’s a weather event or otherwise,” she said. “We’ve also, for those who’ve been impacted in the past by extreme weather conditions, like Hurricane Helene, revamped the process to make sure that those who had financial supports because of the natural disasters they’ve faced have those dollars now flowing more efficiently. “
Spanberger said the goal is to address hurdles wherever possible while acknowledging that state government cannot solve every challenge facing producers.
“So moving into the future, we’re going to continue at every place where we can remove some sort of hurdle or make things just a little bit better, where we can mitigate some of those challenges that we’re going to do it. We can’t fix it all, certainly, and we certainly can take actions that will contend with the impending catastrophic impact of flooding the market with subsidized foreign meat. However, everything that we can do here, at the state level, to support our family farms, which are, you know, community members and drivers of our economy — we will do it.”
A Call to Listen to Producers
Spanberger said the Trump administration should listen to producers when developing policies affecting the cattle industry.
“I think they should first and foremost be listening to producers,” she said. “During my time in Congress, one of the areas where I was aggressively active was on issues of monopolization within meat processing and meat packing, and an effort to crack down on the major integration that negatively impacts smaller producers, but also to expand localized processing.”
She said lowering grocery prices is important but argued that it should be accomplished through policy decisions involving trade and other factors rather than putting additional pressure on producers.
Spanberger also criticized what she described as a policy designed to lower grocery prices ahead of the November elections.
“You know, my concern is that this is a cynical choice, trying to have a gimmick in the November elections to drive down prices at the grocery store,” Spanberger said. “To be clear, I want us to see lower costs at the grocery store, but we do that by making better policy as it relates to trade policy and the war in Iran, which is driving fuel costs. We do not do that on the backs of Virginia’s producers. And this will be catastrophic.”
She warned that continued pressure on cattle producers could put some of Virginia’s more than 21,000 family farms at risk, including multigenerational operations.
“If this continues, we may lose some of those 21,000 family farmers, and for us in Virginia, some of them are multi-generational,” she continued. “These are already farmers who have taken jobs off the farm because it is so hard to sustain their operations, but they do it because of the dedication that they bring to what is for them a deep and abiding commitment — and we should have an Administration in Washington that is just as committed to supporting them and their success as we have right here in the Commonwealth of Virginia.”
Listening to Virginia Farmers on Expanding Local Processing Capacity
Spanberger said the primary message she hears from producers is simple: “Listen to us.” She said producers continue to identify localized meat processing as a major challenge and have also pushed for full funding of agricultural best management practices.
“It’s, you know, ‘listen to us when we say the challenges are localized to meat processing.’” Spanberg explained. “One of the biggest requests I got, certainly in advance of this budget, was to fund our agricultural BMPs. They matter to Virginia farmers, so we fully funded them for the first time ever. The thing I hear is to put us at the top of the list in terms of the things you’re thinking about in prioritizing.”
Spanberger said one of the biggest challenges she hears from cattle producers is limited access to processing facilities. She pointed to her previous work in Congress to address meat-processing consolidation and support expanded localized processing.
Spanberger said she co-led legislation that helped secure additional funding for localized meat processors through the Butcher Block Act. She said producers can have cattle ready for processing but still be unable to secure a processing slot, which can affect their decisions about the future of their operations.
She said her administration is working on a comprehensive approach through the Farming, Forestry and Prosperity Plan and has also supported legislation making it easier to get Virginia-grown products, including beef, into public schools.
Spanberger said those priorities came directly from local producers and agricultural organizations.
“These are ideas that came to us from local producers and from local agricultural organizations, along with their good policy priorities that we have pursued because they make sense, certainly for the farmers across Virginia, but also for our school kids, our community members, and, overall, for Virginia’s economy.”
