Today’s beef buzz features comments from NCBA president Colin Woodall and Ceo of Cattlefax Randy Blach as they reflect on President Trump’s comments on beef imports from Argentina. Beef industry leaders are voicing strong opposition to President Trump’s recent comments suggesting that importing more beef from Argentina could help lower prices for U.S. consumers. Colin Woodall, CEO of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA), made it clear that such a move would harm American ranchers, saying, “We understand what he is trying to do. But what he does not realize is that in trying to bring the price of beef down for the consumer, it means he’s going to bring down the price being paid for cattle for U.S. producers.”
Woodall emphasized that the president’s remarks represent more than just a simple economic adjustment—they amount to a direct threat to domestic cattlemen. “So in fact, this is a direct attack on U.S. cattle producers,” he said.
While the U.S. Department of Agriculture likely understands the market realities behind beef imports, the President may or may not understand that he’s late to the party when he talks about the need for imported beef to help satisfy the demand for U.S. beef and hamburgers. For years, the US has imported lean beef to mix with carcass trimmings to produce ground beef for US consumers. With the smallest US Beef Cattle Herd in decades, the amount of lean beef being brought into the country is on the rise.
Ground beef continues to dominate grocery sales across the United States, with demand showing no signs of slowing. According to Randy Blach of CattleFax, “the number one growth item across all retail stores in America for the last 18 months has been ground beef.” He emphasized that this popularity extends far beyond the meat counter, adding, “I’m not talking about the meat case. I’m talking about across the entire store—ground beef.” Today, “53% of our beef consumption in the U.S. is in the form of ground beef,” reflecting Americans’ enduring love for hamburgers—especially premium ones. “We love our burgers, and we really love our premium burgers,” Blach said, noting that the trend toward higher-fat, better-tasting blends has been “a real driver in our systems.”
What especially angered producers, Woodall said, was the “offhanded comment” from President Trump that rattled cattle markets. “Just come visit with us, and we can talk through any issue that pops up,” Woodall said, urging better communication with industry groups. He warned that “any offhanded comment, as innocuous as they may think that it is, can have huge ramifications on the marketplace.”
The fallout from Trump’s remarks was immediate and costly. “We saw that on Friday, when the futures markets just absolutely crashed, and that cost this industry and a lot of cattle producers a lot of money,” Woodall said. He called the market hit “unneeded and painful,” stressing that the damage was done “for nothing more than just a passing comment on a plan that wasn’t even fully formed.”
Woodall emphasized that the president’s remarks represent more than just a simple economic adjustment—they amount to a direct threat to domestic cattlemen. “So in fact, this is a direct attack on U.S. cattle producers,” he said.
The Beef Buzz is a regular feature heard on radio stations around the region on the Radio Oklahoma Ag Network and is a regular audio feature found on this website as well. Click on the LISTEN BAR for today’s show and check out our archives for older Beef Buzz shows covering the gamut of the beef cattle industry today.
