Rising prices for a variety of products, including beef, coffee and electricity, have spooked consumers and irritated President Trump.
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CHICAGO, Dec 24 (Reuters) – Gary Vetter was 10 years old when he started feeding cows on his family’s farm.
Fifty-five years later, after weathering extreme weather, changing consumer tastes, and global trade disruptions, farmers on Iowa’s West Side are facing unexpected risks from a man who supported the U.S. president: Donald Trump.
Faced with strong voter dissatisfaction with the rising cost of daily living, President Trump declared this fall that beef was too expensive and ranchers needed to lower the price of their cattle. President Trump said beef prices are “higher than we would like them to be, but they will come down soon.”
Like egg prices during the Biden administration, beef prices have become emblematic of America’s affordability crisis. Beef prices hit record highs earlier this year as herds declined and consumer demand remained strong.
Trump’s comments shocked ranchers, who had primarily voted for the president. The Trump administration then announced plans to quadruple the U.S.’s low-tariff imports of Argentine beef, launched investigations into meatpackers for price-fixing, and eliminated tariffs that Trump had imposed on Brazilian beef imports in the summer.
The developments hurt the cattle market, but the price of beef at grocery stores didn’t drop significantly, prompting ranchers who are usually straight shooters to speak out.
“I wish Mr. Trump had said nothing,” Vetter said. “I’m still a Trump supporter. I’m just not a happy Trump supporter.”
A total of eight ranchers Reuters spoke to said they still support President Trump, despite his negative impact on cattle prices.
Feed cattle futures FcF26 have fallen to the upper limit set by the exchange, which limits daily price declines, and have fallen 21% in just over a month since hitting a high on October 16th. That day, President Trump said for the first time that his administration was working to lower beef prices.
Livestock farmers are feeling the heat
Cattle producers and traders say the sales have cut into ranchers’ profits, discouraged livestock buyers and driven out speculative traders as cattle markets become more volatile.
“It’s impacting the price that we as ranchers can get, it’s impacting what feedlots are getting, but there’s nothing I’ve seen or heard yet that has impacted what consumers pay,” said Marty Smith, 66, whose family has ranched in Wakahoota, Fla., for 175 years.
Cattle futures prices began to rise in late November after a sharp decline, but remain below levels before Trump’s remarks. Economists said it would likely take several months for the beef market weakness to be reflected in retail beef prices. The impact on retail prices would also be less dramatic, they said, because meat processors, wholesalers and retailers stand between ranchers and consumers, increasing costs.
Many cattle ranchers also raise crops, and cattle have been a bright spot for their businesses at a time when grain and soybean prices have been depressed due to high supply and President Trump’s trade policies. President Trump this month announced a $12 billion aid package aimed primarily at crop producers.
Cattle prices reached record highs through 2025 as years of drought depleted grazing land and forced producers to reduce the nation’s cattle herds to their smallest sizes in decades. As a result of this decline, the U.S. will lose its position as the world’s largest beef producer to Brazil for the first time in 2025, according to U.S. government estimates.
Cattle supplies became even tighter after the Trump administration halted imports of Mexican livestock from the United States to prevent meat-eating parasites.
Tyson Foods Inc. TSN.N said in November it would permanently close a major U.S. beef plant, eliminating the market for its cattle, as supply shortages raise costs for meat processors. This month, the U.S. Department of Agriculture lowered its estimates for cattle prices through 2026, in part because of the impending shutdown.
President Trump has accused meat producers like Tyson of inflating beef prices through manipulation and collusion and has ordered a Justice Department investigation. Meat traders said their industry is highly regulated and transactions are transparent.
Sticker shock in grocery store aisles
The retail price of ground beef was $6.54 per pound in November, up 16% from $5.63 per pound in the same period last year, according to the latest data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The retail price of boneless stew meat increased 23% from $7.43 per pound to $9.17 per pound.
Since President Trump’s comments in mid-October, wholesale prices for select beef shipped to buyers in large boxes rose 0.5% as of Monday, while wholesale prices for select boxed beef fell 1%, according to U.S. data.
Rising prices for a variety of products, including beef, coffee and electricity, have spooked consumers and irritated President Trump. Annual inflation rose in September at the fastest pace in nearly a year and a half, according to a recent report from the Commerce Department.
Democrats campaigned on a promise to lower consumer prices in 2024, capitalizing on voters’ fears about the economy after winning recent state and local elections.
“The Trump Administration is working across the government to lower beef prices, with multiple agencies taking steps to help both ranchers and consumers, including reducing regulations and supporting small processing facilities,” White House Press Secretary Anna Kelly said in a statement.
Who will rebuild the herd?
Ranchers felt that beef was being unfairly targeted because of the high cost of many products.
“This is a sock in the gut for all of us,” said Dean Meyer, 62, a cattle farmer based in Rock Rapids, Iowa.
Eight ranchers in rural America said they continued to support Trump after voting for him in the last presidential election because of his stance on immigration and other issues. But for some, President Trump’s intervention in the beef market has shaken their faith in him.
“He’s waged war against a group of producers who literally have no real impact on the price of beef in the store,” said Todd Herzog, owner and operator of Herzog Meat Company, a beef processing company in Butler, Missouri.
A fledgling effort to rebuild the nation’s cattle herd, which economists say will ultimately lead to lower beef prices, is in jeopardy as President Trump creates uncertainty in the market for imports, ranchers and economists said.
Falling cattle prices didn’t help either.
Vetter, who buys young cattle to fatten to sell to meatpacker Cargill, said he paid about $2,500 each for 450 steers weighing about 500 pounds toward the end of October. By the end of November, prices had fallen by about $300.
At the same time, meatpackers were willing to pay less for the cows that Mr. Vetter fed to a weight of about 1,650 pounds.
Vetter, who arrived just before Thanksgiving, said he faces a potential loss of $250,000 on cattle he recently purchased after falling prices.
“The president can do whatever he wants, but it’s going to be difficult to grow a herd without some stability,” Fetter said. “I’m going to push the pencil hard before I buy my next set of calves.”
