Cattle prices, board volatile on news of added imports, border reopening, meat plant closures
News | Sep 7, 2026 | Carrie Stadheim | editorial@tsln-fre.com
After a slew of activity in recent weeks that strained the cattle futures and cash markets, President Trump announced on Truth Social on Aug. 28, 2026, that he would draw up legal documents that would allow farmers and ranchers to process their own food.
The post seemed to be a follow up to a conversation between the president and Blaze Media CEO Glenn Beck, in which Beck urged the president to “please, please look at the cartel that is the meat processing cartel,” going on to say that two of the four big meat plants are foreign owned and that the four plants are “colluding with each other,” and said, “help us … it’s bad. We can’t butcher with the federal regulations.”
The conversation between Beck and the president was the direct result of the president’s announcement a week prior, on Aug. 21, 2026, that he had “concluded a deal to substantially lower the price of ground beef…” The president’s post said that for the next 90 days he would allow up to 300,000 metric tons imported beef with no out of quota tariff. He also said he had a commitment that the beef would be sold at 25 percent below current market price. He said this plan would give space for the American beef herd to grow and that it would help ranchers.
A flurry of frustrated responses from producers and cattle and beef lobbying groups followed with one common theme: Importing 660,000,000 pounds of beef (the equivalent of about 1.25 million head of cattle) without a tariff will not give producers the confidence to rebuild. Much the opposite, the board and cash prices turned sharply lower, immediately taking $200 to $300 and more per head off the value of different classes of cattle. Cattle futures fell to eight-month lows. Meanwhile, boxed beef prices increased $2 or more per pound in the days following the announcement.
REDUCING REGULATION ANNOUCEMENT
In her social media post promoting the “allowing producers to process their own food” announcement, U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins listed several items, saying “big announcements” are coming Monday on:
Waiving red tape in processing
Expanding ranchers’ ability to sell across state lines
Rescinding outdated guidance
Adding technology for faster safety data
Growing real support for small processors (funding and deregulation)
Fighting consolidation so small processors can compete
Expanding truth in labeling
R-CALF USA President and Ohio cattle producer Dave Hyde said he is encouraged by some of the secretary’s points, specifically supporting the smaller and medium sized packers, and the truth in labeling.
In recent weeks, several meat slaughter and processing plants have shuttered, eliminating what had been a reliable market for cattle producers and feeders in those parts of the country.
JBS’s Sauderton, Penn., plant will transition from a slaughter plant to a packaging facility.
Tyson permanently closed a plant in Lexington, Neb.; Joslin, Ill., and one in Eagle Mountain, Utah, and will sell a plant in Pasco, Wash.
Hyde said it appears that the “big four” packers are centralizing and strategically preparing to mix and grind more imported beef and slaughter fewer domestic cattle.
Hyde said that between the plant closures and the beef import announcement, the value of cull cows and fat cattle has dropped drastically. “I’m in eastern Ohio and I don’t have a market for fat cattle or cull cows,” he said.
Reducing regulations on small and regional packers could be helpful to the many feeders in his area left stranded by the Pennsylvania and Illinois plant closures, he said. Cutting red tape could help producers sell some of their own beef much more easily.
In order to sell beef across state lines, it must be slaughtered at a USDA inspected plant or fall under certain state-to-state agreements that are not consistent nationwide.
Many smaller plants are not USDA inspected because of the added expense. Hyde said allowing beef to sell across state lines with a state inspection or government support for USDA inspectors at small plants would help producers like himself. Former Kentucky Congressman Thomas Massie championed the PRIME Act for years, which would have allowed beef from non-USDA inspected plants to be eligible for sale nationwide.
The re-opening of Tyson’s Illinois beef plant would also help provide relief to the producers in Hyde’s area.
Hyde said his organization also supports the secretary’s mention of “Expanding truth in labeling,” and he hopes this means implementation of mandatory country of origin labeling of beef.
Brett Kenzy, R-CALF committee chairman said this of the announcement: “Getting closer to the root of the problem. It is time to accept the fact that any new independent processing of any scale will be as vulnerable to concentrated market power as independent cattlemen are now. It is no accident that independent processing has gone away over the last 40 years just as half of cow-calf producers and 70 percent of independent feedlots. A competitive and transparent market place is the foundation of stone independent businesses must be built upon. Full stop.”
In a prepared statement, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association said that “weakening federal meat inspection and food safety standards, as President Trump has suggested,” is not the answer.
“For generations, cattle producers have invested in building consumer confidence in American beef and creating the gold standard of food safety systems. Putting that trust at risk in pursuit of a short-term political solution would be a serious mistake. Beef sold to American consumers should continue to meet rigorous, science-based food safety and inspection standards, regardless of the size of the processor,” said the NCBA statement.“If the administration wants to help cattle producers, it should focus on reducing legitimate regulatory burdens, lowering fuel and fertilizer prices, protecting the U.S. cattle herd from foreign animal disease, and expanding opportunities for mid-size and regional cattle processors,” said NCBA.
NO TARIFF IMPORTS
The first instance of Mexican cattle coming north in over a year took place Aug. 24, 2026, with over 700 head of feeder cattle moving into the United States at the Douglas, Ariz., port. The USDA report said the cattle were “retained ownership, bound to a feedlot,” consisting of steers mostly weighing 600-800 pounds. More ports will open soon.
This, coupled with the multiple plant closures and the president’s plan to allow massive no-tariff beef imports impacted futures and cash markets.
The president’s Truth Social post said:
“Today, I concluded a deal to substantially lower the price of ground beef for working American families. As everyone knows, under President Biden, beef prices soared at their fastest rate and the American beef herd fell to its smallest size in modern history. As we work to rebuild this herd and help our ranchers, for the next 90 days, the United States will allow up to 300,000 metric tons of product for ground beef to be imported with no out of quota tariff. We have a commitment that this beef will be sold at 25 percent below current market prices. This deal will reduce prices for Americans while giving space for our Great American Beef Herd to grow again. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DONALD J. TRUMP
USDA was asked where the beef will come from, who will receive the 25 percent discount, where the beef will be processed and marketed, whether it will be labeled and whether it is subsidized.
In the Executive Order, the president said, the appropriate senior executive branch official has monitored the domestic supply of beef products and that the official advised him on the forecasted increase in domestic beef consumption and prices. That official told the president that domestic supply and current imports may not be adequate to meet consumer demand at reasonable prices. “…that official, after consulting with other relevant senior executive branch officials, has informed me that additional action may be necessary to ensure affordable ground beef for United States consumers and has recommended to me certain additional actions.”
He went on to say that due in part to natural disasters, the U.S. cattle herd can not meet demand. He deemed the action “necessary to ensure that imports of agricultural products do not disrupt the orderly marketing of commodities.”
He anticipates the importation of this beef will result in beef being sold at a lower price than the current one.
The order calls for 100,000 metric tons to come in from Sept. 1 to Sept. 30, with 100,000 metric tons to come in the same format in October and November.
The allowable beef is allocated to “other countries or areas.”
The secretary of agriculture is charged with monitoring the level of lean beef trimmings and shall advise on possible further action needed.
If the beef is not sold at a 25 percent reduced rate, the president reserves the right to refuse the remaining beef.
The announcement doesn’t affect the earlier deal allowing Argentina to ship 80,000 metric tons of out of quota beef.
INDUSTRY REACTIONS
Cattle and beef groups including R-CALF USA, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, U.S. Cattlemen’s Association, American Farm Bureau, National Farmers Union and many state groups voiced similar concerns that the “wall of beef” to enter the country would likely not equate to lower prices, but will assuredly drive cattle prices and the futures market drastically down and reduce producer confidence in herd rebuilding.
Most cattle producers market calves in the fall of the year. After the Argentinian beef import announcement in the fall of 2025, the market took a sharp turn downward. Now those same producers face that same scenario this fall.
Pratt Livestock Manager Steve Stratford of Pratt Kan., said the board dropped dramatically on the import announcement. “It’s highly emotional and traded by people who don’t have a vested interest in this,” he said.
“I think you lost any kind of fund and big corporate interest in being long the board,” he said.
“Here we are, around 70 cents (per pound) off the feeders and around 40 cents (per pound) off the fed cattle in a short period of time. That will have a dramatic ripple effect in our industry for people coming back for the next round of calves,” he said.
Corey Hart, an east central North Dakota cattle rancher, feeder and part owner in the Bowden, N.D., local processing plant, pointed out that amid the futures market crash, boxed beef prices have gone up.
Hart doesn’t believe the timing of this announcement was a coincidence. “How many more things can you throw on a positive Cattle on Feed report?” he said. The report showed July placements at a historic low, down 11 percent year over year and July marketings down 7 percent from the year prior. This would typically be bullish news.
Mike Callicrate, St. Francis Kan., a cattle feeder, processor and direct beef marketer, agrees the market crash was orchestrated. “This gives those feedlots that are connected to the meatpackers the opportunity to fill their pens,” he said. “And if they can make some money on the board, they are happy to do it,” he said.
“It looks real strange to me. We have an announcement that cattle market and suddenly those the packers have a lot less cost into those cattle, including those corporate feedlots they give preferential treatment to,” he said.
“Just looking at the numbers this week, there will be cattle losing $800 a week, maybe more coming out of these independent feedlots,” Callicrate said. “While the aligned feedyards are guaranteed to make money,” he said.
Hart, who has pens of cattle ready to market, has not pulled the trigger to sell at the greatly reduced prices. But because cattle are extremely perishable when market ready, he will be forced to market soon, even if the price is not profitable.
Callicrate said the market crash is not justified, but is based on emotion and predatory activity in “using that news to push the market in the direction that makes the packers money.”
“I’m in the cattle business and the meat business both. There is no relationship between cattle prices and retail beef prices. You look at what the producer share of the consumer beef dollar was in 1970 at 82 percent and now last week, is at 51.3 percent before the announcement. We’ve gotten squeezed by big retail who pushes down on the packers and they are using whatever tool they can to cheapen up cattle. That’s their biggest cost and it’s the one they can manage the best with the use of captive supplies and a futures market they can manipulate and really push prices down in the cash. I’ve fed cattle a long time and it was just painful to see the futures go down the limit when you’ve got fat cattle for sale, but boy does it condition those folks to just dump. We’ve gradually just lost our share of the consumer dollar and now it’s at a point we’ve lost our cow herd and half our producers are gone. Almost 10 million cows have been liquidated. This is going to take some serious thought and planning if we’re going to save the cattle industry at this point,” said Callirate.
Callicrate believes the Chicago Mercantile Exchange serves no good purpose and should be eliminated.
Stratford said there is a need for risk protection but that the CME needs an overhaul. “As much capital and money that it takes now, we need to have a CME that works correctly. I would agree the way it works now is non-functional and treacherous for someone trying to hedge their ranch or on a small feeder level. Just the margin requirements with the limits daily, you’re here asking for these people to expand the U.S. cow herd and for us to increase production in the face of higher taxes, urban sprawl, all these challenges. And on top of that if you run 2,000 or 3,000 of them, you need to use however much of your equity to borrow $3 million of your hedge account? That alone will restrict the capital to expand or grow or bring a child or hired man and help them enter the business. There isn’t enough money to go around. We do need a pricing structure, but this one is broke,” he said.
Callicrate said the CME board will not work without a viable cash market and Stratford agreed, adding that all cash needs to be reported, pointing out that confidentiality rules prevent many trades from ever being reported. Ironically, although price reported was intended to help slow consolidation, as consolidation takes place, and fewer plants exist, confidentiality rules protect the few remaining plants from being required to report.
Adding to the discussion about the cash market, Statford said it is no coincidence that the Joslin and Lexington plants were closed rather than plants further south. “They are the ones that would bid on the cash market, good quality cattle that they had to physically go bid on one or two pens at a time. Every day. Every week. They bid $4 or $5 higher each week. They held what private feeders we have down south from selling too low. They would wait for those plants to buy cattle. I guarantee you it was by plan that those were the plants that were shut down. They were the cash driver of what was left,” said Stratford.
North Dakota rancher Kerry Dockter points out that when the market crashes artificially as has happened lately, cattle continue to be sold, but at a reduced rate. “There is a buyer for those cattle. There is demand,” he said.
SOLUTIONS
Callicrate said strategic tariffs would be helpful. He recommends tariffs that would raise the price of imported beef to match domestic prices. He would also like to see government support for small, regional plants. “Not the plants that import, but the ones that actually slaughter domestic cattle,” he said. He also believes mandatory country of origin labeling is needed on all beef.
Stratford said health insurance for independent ranchers, feeders and even rural employees such as salebarn staff needs to be priced at a lower rate.
Stratford, Callicrate, Hart and Dockter agreed that the price of beef is not too high compared to other consumer items. They pointed out that beef is a nutrient dense food that provides a positive eating experience, significant health benefits and is reasonably priced in comparison to other food. Hart, who occasionally buys boxes of beef or wholesale cuts for his meat plant said beef prices have not increased any more drastically than many other food and non food items.
