Kansas ranchers don't support Trump's plan to import beef

KANSAS (KSNT) - Kansas ranchers are frustrated with President Donald Trump's plan to import Argentinian beef and say it won't be the fix for prices the administration claims it will be.

Trump said on Oct. 19 the U.S. could purchase Argentinian beef in an attempt to bring down prices for American consumers. Beef prices have remained high for a variety of reasons, including drought and reduced imports from Mexico due to a flesh-eating pest, New World screwworm, in cattle herds there.

We reached out to the Kansas Livestock Association and the Kansas Cattlemen's Association to hear what ranchers are saying about the proposal. Vice president of Communications at the Kansas Livestock Association, Scarlett Madinger, said the issue has been bipartisan with ranchers. She said it has brought them together from both sides of the political aisle in rejecting the proposal.

Madinger said that from market analysis she's seen, importing more beef isn't going to lower prices the way the administration thinks it will. She said the current prices reflect the nature of supply and demand.

"Beef is pretty flexible in how it offers various cuts for different prices," Madinger said. "We want to continue to see that demand from consumers... So this statement has proven pretty frustrating for U.S. beef producers."

CEO and Executive Director for the Kansas Cattlemen's Association, Matt Steele, said the price of beef is finally at a level high enough to cover input costs. He said, from a consumer point of view, you might see beef prices go down, but there could be some big downsides.

"It's one of those things," Steele said. "Bringing more input to try to flood the market, it might provide more meat, but we’re not bringing in the top quality meat consumers are wanting. They want steak and roasts... There’s always concerns when we bring it from overseas regarding disease, how it's marketed."

According to Steele, beef and pork is not required to be labeled with its country of origin. He said foreign facilities don't have to follow the same United States Department of Agriculture guidelines as American producers. He said in the U.S., cattle are inspected by the USDA, so there is a clear documented path to the safety of the meat.

Madinger mentioned concerns that Argentina still has cases of a highly contagious viral infection called foot-and-mouth disease. According to the World Organization for Animal Health, foot-and-mouth disease causes fever and painful blisters on the mouth, feet and teats, leading to production losses and sometimes death for animals.

"Argentina still has foot and mouth disease, and that’s absolutely not something we want..." Madinger said. "It's highly contagious; it would spread very quickly."

In a press release from Oct. 22, Kansas Senator Roger Marshall shared his thoughts on the consideration to increase Argentinian beef imports.

"Yeah, we could increase the Argentina beef imports times eight, and it would not replace the amount of beef we’re losing from Mexico because of the screw worm. And then the other thing people need to understand, and this is complicated, but in America, we grow fat beef. It’s steaks. It’s, you know, when the American farmer makes money, is when we turn corn into that great KC strip steak that you get down at one of those fine restaurants, or maybe you go to the grocery store and get it as well. We don’t have enough hamburgers. Where I’m going with this is we don't have enough lean beef in this country to satisfy the needs for hamburger."

Kansas Senator Roger Marshall

Kansas Representative Derek Schmidt has also expressed concerns over the proposal.

"After years of drought that shrunk the overall herd size, what Kansas cattle producers need is room to operate in free markets, not more government interference, as they manage the way forward. I have today expressed to the White House the importance of this issue for Kansas and appreciate the careful attention our concerns are receiving."

U.S. representative for Kansas's 2nd congressional district Derek Schmidt said in a social media post.

The Cattle Ranchers, who I love, don’t understand that the only reason they are doing so well, for the first time in decades, is because I put Tariffs on cattle coming into the United States, including a 50% Tariff on Brazil. If it weren’t for me, they would be doing just as they’ve done for the past 20 years — Terrible! It would be nice if they would understand that, but they also have to get their prices down, because the consumer is a very big factor in my thinking, also!

President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social on Oct. 22.

The proposal to purchase Argentinian beef comes after an announcement the U.S. would help Argentina bolster its collapsing currency with a $20 billion credit swap line and additional financing from sovereign funds and the private sector ahead of midterm elections for Trump's close ally, President Javier Milei.

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.