by Amanda Head
After discontent from the cattle industry and many Republican allies, the latest move to help both ranchers and consumers is a shock to the entrenched ag system.
After cattle country stresses over President Donald Trump's plan to flood the market with cheaper foreign ground-beef trimmings, the 47th president posted that four giant processors have made life “miserable” for American ranchers and that he is authorizing farmers to process their own food if desired or necessary.
"Trump wants to remove some of the red tape and costs associated with setting up USDA inspected facilities for small producers or areas of the country that don’t have USDA processors to be able to sell their protein to consumers in a legal way," grazier Derek Lange told Just The News last week.
"Consumers want to buy beef from ranchers and be a part of their story."
Lange, who runs Citrus Cattle Company in California's Central Valley, spoke about the difficulties of dealing with red tape and getting the meat processed for the consumer.
One of the biggest challenges I had when trying to develop our direct-to-consumer beef business was finding a USDA processor for an operation my size," he said.
"We haul our finished beef two-and- half hours away in order to have our beef USDA processed per the current regulations. To have our beef USDA processed, it costs two and a half times what it would cost at a local custom butcher.
"The way we remove power from the 'Big 4' is to give US ranchers a way to be competitive in the marketplace, and I think Trump understands this.”
Four firms – Tyson, Cargill, JBS and National Beef – handle about 85% of U.S. fed-cattle slaughter.
Ranchers often face only two to four local buyers, thin cash markets and long hauls to distant plants. Custom processors are booked months ahead and charge $1.20–$1.60 a pound.
That bottleneck has long squeezed what producers get paid relative to grocery prices, raised shipping and wait costs, and left many ranchers dependent on a few packers they say set the terms.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins responded within minutes to Trump’s post Friday.
“We are on it Mr. President,” she said, promising announcements on Monday to waive processing red tape, let ranchers sell across state lines, back small plants, and fight consolidation – a sudden pivot from import relief to DIY slaughter.
Tariff-free trimmings are bad for business
Trump announced on Aug. 21 that in an effort to lower beef prices for Americans, he was authorizing the import of 300,000 metric tons of lean beef trimmings with no out-of-quota tariff for 90 days beginning Tuesday. The administration noted that the foreign suppliers committed to selling the beef at 25% below current market price.
Concerns immediately emerged over the import's effect on American ranchers. Allowing 300,000 metric tons of lean beef trimmings in tariff-free for 90 days at a discount would add sudden supply that competes with U.S. cattle, especially cull cows used for grinding. Cattle markets dropped immediately after the announcement.
American ranchers already face a herd at 1950s lows after drought, high feed costs and liquidation. And rebuilding takes years and needs strong prices to justify keeping heifers instead of selling them.
Extra cheap imports blunt those signals, shrink margins against packer power, and risk delaying expansion. Industry groups and cattle-state senators say the short-term consumer price play trades away the only durable fix: a larger American herd.
The discontent was not universal, however.
Lange told Just The News: "I was not too concerned when I heard Donald Trump announce the import of 300,000 tons of beef trimmings to help offset beef costs for taxpayers. Trump is making an effort to help folks with their grocery bills."
Lange also said that most of the tariff-free imported beef will come from Brazil, which was already the case.
"Brazil is already a major importer of beef to the US and so it’s business as usual," he said. "It doesn’t affect the restocking rates or consumption rates that really determine the long-term price predictions for the market that we are in.”
More freedom for ranchers
If ranchers can legally slaughter, process, and sell their own beef – especially across state lines – they gain another path besides the Big Four. More small and on-farm outlets mean extra bids for cattle, shorter hauls and a chance to keep more of the retail dollar by selling quarters, hamburger or boxed beef direct.
Easier inspection rules and support for small plants could cut the cost and delay of getting meat to market.
That competition is meant to loosen packer leverage, give producers pricing power and reward local processing, instead of forcing every animal through a handful of giant plants.
How far federal law can actually change remains unclear.
Forthcoming announcements from Rollins
Rollins has already teased a series of announcements that she vowed to be rolled out Monday, dovetailing off of the president's post. She boasted that American ranchers produce the highest-quality beef in the world and argued that the ability to feed and fuel the country is a matter of national security.
Monday's announcement, she teased, will include waiving red tape in meat processing, expanding ranchers’ ability to sell across state lines and rescinding outdated guidance that has boxed smaller operators out of the market.
The USDA (the U.S. Department of Agriculture) would also add technology for faster safety data, she said, so plants can move product without waiting on paperwork.
Rollins promised “real support” for small processors through funding and deregulation, plus a fight against consolidation so those plants can compete.
She also said the administration would expand truth in labeling.
“The world is hungry for American beef,” she wrote, with “much more to come.”
Amanda Head
Source: https://justthenews.com/government/white-house/trump-breaks-big-fours-grip-and-restores-ranchers-freedom-process
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