US Meat Supply

[PabloNole]

 

[jimneffer]

Our farmers are pissed. What happened to America First?

https://www.ncba.org/news-media/news/details/50285/ncba-statement-on-president-trumps-truth-social-post

well...this is an easy fix. Trump will just do what he does every time these consequences arise for a group considers an ally

GIVE THEM GIVT MONEY!

 

[Knickslions69]

I’m sure he’s doing this to help his favorite restaurant McDonalds. I bet he made a deal with them to get cheaper beef and in return they change their name to McTrumps

 

[TigerGrowls]

Trump inherited the smallest beef-cow herd since 1961. You cannot rebuild 30 million breeding animals in six months. You keep ranchers profitable, open grazing land, protect them from drought and losses, expand American processing, encourage them to retain heifers, all of which the Trump USDA is doing —and while those cows reproduce, you temporarily supplement hamburger supply. What exactly is the alternative? Tell Americans to pay $9 a pound for hamburger for three years while we wait for calves to grow up?

 

[tigres88]

It went from "the Somali's are eating the dogs and the cats" to "Americans will eat the horses and like it!" in 2 short years.

Making America great!

 

[PabloNole]

All the day 1 talk to “give us time.”

 

[Billanole.]

American beef producers are only doing this for one reason, and one reason only.

They want a subsidy payment from the USDA.
In an election year, decent chance they get it. Republican candidates in the Midwest and Texas will lobby the WH for this.
Guaranfvckingteed!

 

[fskillet]

Sorry MAGA. If Biden got blame for egg shortages Trump is getting the beef shortage. Them’s the rules.

 

[Urohawk]

Sounds like you know plenty about meat phagg.

I guess they didn't transfer.....

 

[Thefunksouljon]

I'm not sure what you'd want trump or any other potential president to do about high beef prices. There simply are not enough US bred cattle to slaughter. It's not Trump's fault and it wasn't biden's either. It will likely take a couple more years to get herds back to normal levels.

And, while you might be right, I'm not certain we can blame this drought on climate change. We've had droughts long before the era of global warming and/or climate change...some go back as far as the 1800's and everyone should have learned about the 1930's dust bowl.

Sometimes, things happen and there's nobody to blame.

Well, I guess as a free market capitalist I would say it's a crappy set of events that lead us to this issue but govt intervention by importing meat and artificially lowering the price of beef doesn't benefit our beef production and hurts their margins which they need to help to overcome the recent lower herds. See they needed that extra money to rebuild, but since the price is going to be artificially lower due to his dumba$$ promises about affordability and fixing price issues he doesn't understand why the market is the way it is, he is being an interventionist for votes and not helping the industry.

I was more posting to OP because he is trying to make this a political issue which the reasons for the shortage are NOT originally political but the solutions (which are long term) require science and not market manipulation. The consumers are not in grave danger, we have numerous alternatives.

According to science, one of the major reasons IS climate change (again, who is firing them to have an educated discussion on this topic?). Now you throw on top of that the govt allowing the industry to consolidate and not have processing options, which IS a protection that the govt is charged with... oh, what was the name of the behavior the govt was expected to protect consumers from? So yeah, he has a number of areas here where he is failing to do what he should, and tinkering where he doesn't understand the full impacts. But I blame trump and not republicans as a whole, however, that might be too generous.

Other times, it is pretty easy to see where some blame lies.

 

[Billanole.]

Well, I guess as a free market capitalist I would say it's a crappy set of events that lead us to this issue but govt intervention by importing meat and artificially lowering the price of beef doesn't benefit our beef production and hurts their margins to overcome the recent lower herds. See they needed that extra money to rebuild, but since the price is going to be artificially lower due to his dumba$$ promises about affordability and fixing price issues he doesn't understand why the market is the way it is, he is being an interventionist for votes.

I was more posting to OP because he is trying to make this a political issue which the reasons for the shortage are NOT originally political but the solutions (which are long term) require science and not market manipulation. The consumers are not in grave danger, we have numerous alternatives.

According to science, one of the major reasons IS climate change (again, who is firing them?). Now you throw on top of that the govt allowing the industry to consolidate and not have processing options, which IS a protection that the govt is charged with... oh, what was the name of the behavior the govt was expected to protect consumers from? So yeah, he has a number of areas here where he is failing to do what he should, and tinkering where he doesn't understand the full impacts. But I blame trump and not republicans as a whole, however, that might be too generous.

Bam. Zounds. POW.
Thanks for a great post.

 

[Thefunksouljon]

Bam. Zounds. POW.
Thanks for a great post.

 

[baltimorened]

another confusing post..we have been complaining about Traiffs for over a year - they add costs, increase inflation...ok we all agree....so now trump ditches a tariff and we're complaining about the revenue lost by eliminating a tariff?

are we nuts, or whatever Trump does is bad??

 

[baltimorened]

I’m sure he’s doing this to help his favorite restaurant McDonalds. I bet he made a deal with them to get cheaper beef and in return they change their name to McTrumps

yep, I'm pretty sure that's right....

 

[baltimorened]

Sorry MAGA. If Biden got blame for egg shortages Trump is getting the beef shortage. Them’s the rules.

fair enough, but both shortages happened/started during Biden, and you know what, neither were his nor his administration's fault. We just need to blame somebody, and now it's Trump's turn

 

[baltimorened]

Well, I guess as a free market capitalist I would say it's a crappy set of events that lead us to this issue but govt intervention by importing meat and artificially lowering the price of beef doesn't benefit our beef production and hurts their margins which they need to help to overcome the recent lower herds. See they needed that extra money to rebuild, but since the price is going to be artificially lower due to his dumba$$ promises about affordability and fixing price issues he doesn't understand why the market is the way it is, he is being an interventionist for votes and not helping the industry.

I was more posting to OP because he is trying to make this a political issue which the reasons for the shortage are NOT originally political but the solutions (which are long term) require science and not market manipulation. The consumers are not in grave danger, we have numerous alternatives.

According to science, one of the major reasons IS climate change (again, who is firing them to have an educated discussion on this topic?). Now you throw on top of that the govt allowing the industry to consolidate and not have processing options, which IS a protection that the govt is charged with... oh, what was the name of the behavior the govt was expected to protect consumers from? So yeah, he has a number of areas here where he is failing to do what he should, and tinkering where he doesn't understand the full impacts. But I blame trump and not republicans as a whole, however, that might be too generous.

Other times, it is pretty easy to see where some blame lies.

if this was an economic decision, it would have been made months ago. We have an election in a little more than 2 months. Trump wants to get votes. He thinks this will help with affordability. We'll likely see some movement on gas prices shortly, if Trump can find a way to manipulate the system

 

[Thefunksouljon]

I'm not sure what you'd want trump or any other potential president to do about high beef prices. There simply are not enough US bred cattle to slaughter. It's not Trump's fault and it wasn't biden's either. It will likely take a couple more years to get herds back to normal levels.

And, while you might be right, I'm not certain we can blame this drought on climate change. We've had droughts long before the era of global warming and/or climate change...some go back as far as the 1800's and everyone should have learned about the 1930's dust bowl.

Sometimes, things happen and there's nobody to blame.

if this was an economic decision, it would have been made months ago. We have an election in a little more than 2 months. Trump wants to get votes. He thinks this will help with affordability. We'll likely see some movement on gas prices shortly, if Trump can find a way to manipulate the system

Well, you asked in your first post what he could do. I replied.
You commented on the blame to climate change, I responded and poked valid holes in the "nothing we could do" response.
Sometimes, there is no one to blame for the situation. True. However in this instance, some policies have clearly contributed (even OP thinks so) and trump's response is expected to make this worse. Thats his MO.

I do agree with you, this is completely political. But it's only 1 party and 1 person.

 

[Anon1750875978]

Once again, Trump is trying to pick winners and losers.

Midwest and Texas Republicans are in trouble ahead of the midterms.
The WH could have done this six months ago, but polling didn't show the GOP in trouble then.

 

[Thefunksouljon]

fair enough, but both shortages happened/started during Biden, and you know what, neither were his nor his administration's fault. We just need to blame somebody, and now it's Trump's turn

When did you turn into such a simp?

While it wasn't Biden's fault, unfortunately it smelled bad when the egg prices were spiking. Investigations started under Trump, but the price fixing happened under Biden. His admin should have done more..

Both are not equal. One bumbled along ignorance being bliss. , one is actively manipulating markets.

 

[PabloNole]

another confusing post..we have been complaining about Traiffs for over a year - they add costs, increase inflation...ok we all agree....so now trump ditches a tariff and we're complaining about the revenue lost by eliminating a tariff?

are we nuts, or whatever Trump does is bad??

What’s confusing? It’s a McDonald’s bailout. It’s a small dent. In the meantime, we’re still going back and forth with Canada on 50% tariffs.

 

[baltimorened]

What’s confusing? It’s a McDonald’s bailout. It’s a small dent. In the meantime, we’re still going back and forth with Canada on 50% tariffs.

well, I have to admit I haven't seen anything that relates the newly imported beef with McDonalds.....

how did Canada get into this conversation? Are they one of the nations supplying beef for import? I hadn't seen that either.

Maybe I'm just misinformed other than more beef should mean lower prices

 

[Anon1750875978]

well, I have to admit I haven't seen anything that relates the newly imported beef with McDonalds.....

how did Canada get into this conversation? Are they one of the nations supplying beef for import? I hadn't seen that either.

Maybe I'm just misinformed other than more beef should mean lower prices

Maybe I missed it...exactly where is the mystery meat coming from and who did Trump make a "deal" with?

Apologies, it's kinda the same question you asked.

 

[PabloNole]

how did Canada get into this conversation?

 

[baltimorened]

Maybe I missed it...exactly where is the mystery meat coming from and who did Trump make a "deal" with?

Apologies, it's kinda the same question you asked.

and I was under the impression the beef was going to end up in supermarkets, but some seem to know that it's going to McDonalds.

 

[Thefunksouljon]

well, I have to admit I haven't seen anything that relates the newly imported beef with McDonalds.....

how did Canada get into this conversation? Are they one of the nations supplying beef for import? I hadn't seen that either.

Maybe I'm just misinformed other than more beef should mean lower prices

Based on reporting, it is all just speculation on this board (McDonalds / Canada / etc). What isn't speculation is the most probable impacts of this.

5 unanswered questions, and 5 are very important to know. Most likely, trump is full of cow pies and will cobble something together last minute that is less than promised because he is a headlinewhore. But is sycophants will cheer "he tried!"

5 unanswered questions about Trump’s beef import deal

The U.S. president announced a deal to flood the U.S. market with foreign ground beef.

www.newsweek.com

And IMHO yes, "Maybe I'm just misinformed other than more beef should mean lower prices" yes, that is a bit misinformed. "Just lower prices" is a great bumpersticker, it's a horrible economic policy when conducted in a bubble.

 

[Anon1750875978]

Based on reporting, it is all just speculation on this board (McDonalds / Canada / etc). What isn't speculation is the most probable impacts of this.

5 unanswered questions, and 5 are very important to know. Most likely, trump is full of cow pies and will cobble something together last minute that is less than promised because he is a headlinewhore. But is sycophants will cheer "he tried!"

5 unanswered questions about Trump’s beef import deal

The U.S. president announced a deal to flood the U.S. market with foreign ground beef.

www.newsweek.com

And IMHO yes, "Maybe I'm just misinformed other than more beef should mean lower prices" yes, that is a bit misinformed. "Just lower prices" is a great bumpersticker, it's a horrible economic policy when conducted in a bubble.

If the price of ground beef/chuck drops .50/lb, Truth Social/Natalie Harp will make a post saying the price dropped 15% since Trump's decision.
Of course, that 15% drop will be from a week earlier, which is still 50% higher than December 2024.

Don't underestimate the dishonesty of MAGA.

 

[baltimorened]

Based on reporting, it is all just speculation on this board (McDonalds / Canada / etc). What isn't speculation is the most probable impacts of this.

5 unanswered questions, and 5 are very important to know. Most likely, trump is full of cow pies and will cobble something together last minute that is less than promised because he is a headlinewhore. But is sycophants will cheer "he tried!"

5 unanswered questions about Trump’s beef import deal

The U.S. president announced a deal to flood the U.S. market with foreign ground beef.

www.newsweek.com

And IMHO yes, "Maybe I'm just misinformed other than more beef should mean lower prices" yes, that is a bit misinformed. "Just lower prices" is a great bumpersticker, it's a horrible economic policy when conducted in a bubble.

you might well be correct....but here's my thoughts...right now our herds are way down and there's no way for us to get more beef anytime soon. So, just like we did with eggs...you go outside the country for your supply. Does that hurt our ranchers, sure, because the price for beef will drop and that means the'll make less money....

but, in the short term, while we're waiting for our herds to grow, consumers will get lower prices....isn't that good for them?

If this causes pain for our ranchers then we can subsidize the to get them over the hump. We're already providing some subsidies, a little more won't hurt.

 

[Thefunksouljon]

you might well be correct....but here's my thoughts...right now our herds are way down and there's no way for us to get more beef anytime soon. So, just like we did with eggs...you go outside the country for your supply. Does that hurt our ranchers, sure, because the price for beef will drop and that means the'll make less money....

but, in the short term, while we're waiting for our herds to grow, consumers will get lower prices....isn't that good for them?

If this causes pain for our ranchers then we can subsidize the to get them over the hump. We're already providing some subsidies, a little more won't hurt.

So, here, Im going to fully disagree with a number of your points....
1) don't subsidize MORE. Some is likely bad, more is worse. Stop giving away tax money to "those who need it". This has a name...
2) It is great to pay less if it is natural, this is NOT. This is trying to avoid econ 101 and the unexpected consequences will be worse that the original pain. Esp since there are alternatives. This govt invention likely also hampers new markets of protein and creative ways to avoid the resource consumption of cattle, e.g. goats, sheep, camels
3) Fix the core issue of the herd being low, a well established shortage of water if the govt wants to tinker with anything (Im leerying on this as well, but there are some established methods).

And again, why subsidize an unstable market? Wasn't that the rally cry to stop subsidizing wind / solar? So why treat ranchers different than other equally important industries?

 

[dpic73]

On March 19, 2026, Chinese customs rejected a 22-ton beef shipment from an ArreBeef plant in Argentina after finding it contained chloramphenicol, a dangerous chemical banned in livestock production since 1995.

Guess where Trump says America will now be getting our beef in order to "bring down beef prices" driven through the roof due to his tariffs?

 

[baltimorened]

So, here, Im going to fully disagree with a number of your points....
1) don't subsidize MORE. Some is likely bad, more is worse. Stop giving away tax money to "those who need it". This has a name...
2) It is great to pay less if it is natural, this is NOT. This is trying to avoid econ 101 and the unexpected consequences will be worse that the original pain. Esp since there are alternatives. This govt invention likely also hampers new markets of protein and creative ways to avoid the resource consumption of cattle, e.g. goats, sheep, camels
3) Fix the core issue of the herd being low, a well established shortage of water if the govt wants to tinker with anything (Im leerying on this as well, but there are some established methods).

And again, why subsidize an unstable market? Wasn't that the rally cry to stop subsidizing wind / solar? So why treat ranchers different than other equally important industries?

you have good points...we'll have to see if this new trump plan works. It did with eggs, but only time will tell