Beef prices going up????

[lunkerslayer]

He also has to lower tariffs to make that meat less expensive, its a shit show all by design on multiple fronts.

 

[ORCUS DEMENS]

He also has to lower tariffs to make that meat less expensive, its a shit show all by design on multiple fronts.

Could not agree more.
Shocking isn't it.
The current resident of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. is Making America Great Again by importing Beef which can be raised here.
He also put tariffs on items which can not be produced here.
Seems back%sswards to me.

 

[Fritz the Cat]

It's crazy. Green Peace has been soliciting for money for years to save the rain forest. The slashing and burning happening now is to raise more beef for the American market. It won't matter if the labels on that beef have an ugly brahma cow, a burning rain forest and American burger doodle logo. Our consumer will pick it up if it is 10 cents cheaper.

 

[lunkerslayer]

USDA

Since January 2025, there have been approximately 36,000 to 45,000 pounds of beef from USDA-inspected slaughterhouses and processing facilities that were definitively "found to be bad" (meaning lab-confirmed for pathogenic contamination like E. coli or

non-USDA

There are exactly 0 pounds of meat from non-USDA slaughterhouses that have been definitively "found to be bad" (meaning officially lab-confirmed to contain pathogens or chemical hazards) since January
Source
https://www.fsis.usda.gov/recalls-a...beef-products-imported-without-benefit-import

 

[Obi-Wan]

https://www.cattlerange.com/pages/market-reports/weekly-stocker-calves-prices-by-state

 

[Browneye]

This is a very prickly topic. I raised cows too and when I started out I sold many calves too for $400, was glad when we could get 500. Now ranchers are getting over 2000. I am glad todays ranchers are getting the good price to make up for drought years and low price years. But I am also a consumer of beef use alot of ground beef. I can't get used to paying $6-8 a pound for ground beef. So I don't get the slew of ranchers now on social media saying how much this importing of beef is hurting them, they come off tone deaf to the consumer who is also dealing with rising prices on everything else they but too. Years of large drought areas in the US have made ranchers make the hard choice to sell down cows to survive. The historic low cattle numbers can't be turned around overnight. When the decision is made to increase the herd its at least 3 years till the calf retained matures and raises the calf to be sold in the fall. And even that year that calf only replaces the meat that its mother would have been in the market if it had been sold 3 years earlier instead of kept to make a momma cow. I get that the current ranchers feel they are losing money with this importing of beef for a bit to bring the price down. But how much more do they feel the price of beef can go up before they start losing more market share nation wide to other meats like pork and chicken. To me beef is king and we eat alot of it but we already don't eat near as much as we used to or like to cause we just can't afford it. I have heard all the tired arguments against Country Of Origin Labeling law that other countries with retaliate with tariffs on it. But to me nothing will help more long term so that inferior meat from other countries can't be sold as US grown meat. Consumers would then have the information they need to either buy American to support US ranchers or buy the cheaper meat that who knows whats in it or how it was handled.

 

[KDM]

I raise a few hair sheep here at the fort to keep my old, fat, retired azz off the couch and staying active. I have come to love the taste of lamb in all it's forms. Ground lamb is fabulous. Leg steaks (steaked leg of lamb) is fast becoming my favorite cut of meat. Might be worth it to try finding a slaughter lamb from a producer here in ND and give lamb a try. One of my 100 lb Dorper lambs (that's a breed) will produce about a 55 lb carcass. I raise mine till they throw a 80-100 lb carcass (January slaughter timeframe) because I like a larger steak or chop. That 100 lamb costs around 236 bucks live weight at the sale barn in Sioux Falls SD as of Aug 19, 2026. It then will cost about 125 bucks to have it processed. Comes down to about 7 bucks a pound for lamb chops/steaks/ground lamb. Might be something to check out from a budgetary stand point.

Oh, I forgot to mention that processing your own lamb is identical to processing your own deer and a guy can skip the 125 dollar processing fee, making it even more economical.

 

[Retired-Guy]

Other than the price, what is the difference between choice and prime beef?

 

[measure-it]

Prime grade is a higher quality beef...usually more tender, more marbling (flavor & fat), and better trimmed.
Mostly reserved for restuarants & steak houses.

 

[lunkerslayer]

Man i hope this goes through will significantly improve the quality of meat customers can buy, which will also bring down the price of more competition.

 

[Duckslayer100]

Yes, major meatpacking interests have contributed financially to Donald Trump's political events. [1]

The Major Donation

• • Pilgrim’s Pride, a major U.S. poultry processor and a subsidiary of the global meatpacking giant JBS, donated $5 million to the Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee. [1, 2]
  • This contribution made the JBS subsidiary the single largest corporate donor to the inauguration, surpassing contributions from major tech companies like Amazon and Meta. [1, 2]

 

[GlassHollow]

The Nebraska closure is definitely real, but from what I’ve read the Amarillo plant isn’t actually closing, it’s dropping to one full shift. Seems like the bigger problem is how tight the cattle supply already is.

I wouldn’t bet on $10/lb ground beef everywhere by spring, but I sure wouldn’t expect beef to get cheap anytime soon either.

 

[NodakBob]

It makes a cow elk meat hunt sound more affordable…

 

[Rowdie]

Laws need to be passed. I wish the Demoncrats would have thought this up. If Trump tries to help they'll oppose it no matter what.

 

[KDM]

Words have meaning. We already have the right to "Process their own food" or "Process my own food." I can process my own beef for my own use. What I am told I CAN NOT DO, is process my own beef and sell that beef to someone else. That's the problem. Those two things are NOT the same. Whatever this declaration or statement or process says, it doesn't say I can slaughter my own beef animal and sell it to my neighbor without govt approval. Looks like a worthless statement that does nothing to address the real problem IMO. Carry On!

 

[Fritz the Cat]

Hey KDM, remember a few years ago when I had those farm raised cow elk for sale. My very first call was ND Meat Inspection. I went to the Capital for meetings. Impasse.

The problem was on farm slaughter. If the buyer is taking the animal to an inspected facility I can assist. However, if the buyer wants to cut it up on his pickup tail gate or kitchen table I cannot assist. Not even pick it up with a loader tractor and put it into their pickup. Ridiculous. But I can pick it up with a loader tractor and put it on their pickup if they are taking it to an inspected facility. Those facilities are booked six months to a year out.

The head of meat inspection gave me a piece of paper with a list of phone numbers to seven State and three federal plants. I asked her to make me an appointment in the next couple days. She gave me that smile. You know the one. The list was of no value.

I told Deputy Ag Commish and meat inspection lady this is a stupid law, and I think will draft legislation to change it. Researching found it is a federal law. Sans Bill.

So, I purchased a one fourth share in a live kill floor slaughterhouse. Small town ND. Never killed one elk there in two years. Two reasons. I needed eight dollars per pound to break even. Canada started dumping elk into the U.S. for six dollars. New Zealand Red Deer comes into the west coast, and they stamp it ground elk. And I found the processing regulations to be insane. Did you know you cannot hang an elk in the cooler next to a beef cow? One is amenable meat the other non-amenable. The truck that picks up the offal or guts and bones won't take elk because of CWD. Have to haul it yourself to an approved landfill. And so much more.

After two years' time one day the Deputy Ag Commish asked me how I am coming along drafting a Bill to change that part in the on-farm slaughter thing? I told him my position has changed, now that I am an owner in a slaughterhouse, I believe all on farm slaughter should be banned and all animals should be required to go through my monopoly. He laughed saying I see what you did there.

The slaughterhouse made money, but it takes back a good portion for updates and expansion. I sold out.

People need to utilize on farm slaughter more. Trouble is they may not want a whole animal. They can split it two or more ways. The law says the buyer must view the animal. I think that is a good idea. The trouble starts when a buyer decides to split it and his partners didn't view the animal. I will only take one check from the guy who viewed it. If he sells half and quarters that is on him.

Allowing beef imports means rewarding the cheapest dirtiest way.

 

[KDM]

Yep!! Sure do. Just remember......we live in a free country.

 

[Fritz the Cat]

Yep!! Sure do. Just remember......we live in a free country.

With an asterisk.

 

[lunkerslayer]

To many people in congress get campaign contributions from those heavily involved in the way animals are processed to actually get the governmentt to relax restrictionsl, has this always been this way you described it @Fritz the Cat because i purchased my dads meat processing gear. I grew up on a hobby farm and we always processed and sold to locals this was 30 years ag9.