PASSAIC, Mo. — KSHB 41 reporter Ryan Gamboa covers Cass County in Missouri. He also covers agricultural topics. Ryan works closely with leaders in the agriculture industry and wants to share the voices of rural communities. Reach out to Ryan with your story. Share your story idea with Ryan.
—
On Friday, President Donald Trump announced a plan to lift tariffs on up to 300,000 metric tons of imported ground beef, with the goal of lowering prices for consumers. The beef is pledged to be sold at 25% below current market prices.
The announcement comes as beef prices remain near record highs.
"Today, I concluded a deal to substantially lower the price of ground beef for working American families," President Trump wrote on Truth Social. "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."
But local ranchers and agriculture advocates say the plan will hurt American cattle producers without delivering meaningful relief at the grocery store.
RELATED | Missouri cattle industry veteran says president's Argentina beef import plan an 'insult'
Jim Hertzog, owner of Mo-Kan Livestock in Butler, Missouri, said the announcement immediately damaged the market.
"I'm strictly against it, 100%," Hertzog said. "The best solution is to leave the government out of everything we do and let the market correct itself."
Hertzog told KSHB 41 Agriculture Reporter Ryan Gamboa that he took a $500 hit on the value of nearly every animal in his pen following the announcement. President Trump's announcement on Truth Social on Friday shocked the Chicago Board of Trade, which drives the market prices of different livestock commodities. The effects of the announcement were also felt on Monday.
He said the approximate $500 million the U.S. is forgoing in tariff revenue could have been used differently.
"Give a producer $200 a head, that $500 million would retain 2.5 million heifers and that's how you build the herd and help the American cattleman," Hertzog explained.
The nation's cattle herd is at a 75-year low, largely due to drought, which has driven up prices at the grocery store.
Nick Levendofsky, executive director of Kansas Farmers Union, said importing foreign beef does nothing to address that underlying problem.
"We need to rebuild the herd right here in our country," Levendofsky explained. "That's because of high input costs, it's due to drought, we're at an all-time low when it comes to our herd population and we need to rebuild our herd."
Rebuilding the herd takes time, Levendofsky said, and the timeline cannot be shortcut by imports.
"It's about two years from the time you breed a cow, a heifer, to the time that steer goes to market," Levendofsky told Gamboa. "It's about a two year time frame."
Both Hertzog and Levendofsky expressed doubt that consumers would see any significant savings at the checkout counter.
"You might see it go down 10 cents," Hertzog said.
"It's not going to do anything for consumers in the grand scheme of things," Levendofsky added.
Levendofsky said announcements like this create uncertainty across the market, as details about the plan have not been released, nor the product's country of origin.
This isn't the first time livestock producers have felt undercut by President Trump. In October 2025, Trump announced he was considering a purchase of Argentine beef to provide relief for the agriculture producers. He criticized ranchers online in a Truth Social 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," Trump wrote. "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!"
Hertzog told Gamboa last year the U.S. doesn't need beef from Argentina.
"We have enough to support our own," he said.
"President Trump, manipulating the market, which he’s done three times now, on major tweets, one really criticizing cattleman," Hertzog told Gamboa on Monday. "All three of those major tweets [Truth Social posts] have really driven the market considerably lower."
Trump's plan to import Argentine beef last year never came to fruition after pushback across the country. It drew criticism from farm policy organizations for lack of a clear plan.
"Just putting information out there without all the details doesn't help anybody in the long run, whether you're a Kansas cattle rancher or if you're buying beef in the grocery store," Levendofsky said. "My hope is that they back off on this deal."
He noted that consumers are already paying about $7 a pound on average for ground beef and said the plan does not address the pressures ranchers face in producing an affordable product while still making a living.
Hertzog said he hopes lawmakers from both parties push back on the plan.
"I hope enough Republicans and Democrats come together and tell Trump no," Hertzog said.
Kansas and Missouri lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have criticized President Trump's tariff plan, with many standing by their agricultural constituents.
“We understand the pain families are feeling at the grocery store, and we appreciate the President’s desire to find ways to bring relief to consumers. We simply disagree with bringing in more foreign beef as the answer…after years of drought and high input costs forced Missouri cattle producers to sell down their herds, they are finally in a position to rebuild. We stand behind our Missouri producers and support a strong domestic cattle industry.”
"Hardworking Kansas families are asking for lower beef prices, but we can’t solve one problem while hurting the ranchers who feed us. I've said this for months. We need to bring down beef prices while giving our cattle producers the ability to rebuild their herds and strengthen our food supply chain. We can do both!"
"While affordability is undoubtedly an important issue for American families, it needs to happen without harming our farmers and ranchers. Missouri cattle producers have endured years of pain. A short term fix at their expense isn't the answer. We need solutions that lower costs for consumers while protecting American producers and strengthening our domestic cattle industry for the long term. I am working with my colleagues to ensure that Missouri producers’ voices are heard."
"Beef prices trace back to one thing: The smallest cattle herd of my lifetime. Americans aren’t short on protein options like chicken or pork. What’s short is the signal to US ranchers to grow the herd back. That’s where long term solutions and federal policy should focus, not flooding the market with imports."
"Economic forces and natural disasters have constrained the cattle herd for years, and importing beef below market prices will only put further downward pressure on the livestock sector, endangering what has been a bright spot in a struggling agriculture industry. I urge President Trump to halt this action, listen to ranchers and let the free market work."
“Flooding the market with Argentinian beef isn’t how you show support for American cattle producers. Market manipulation is also a misguided approach to bringing down grocery prices, so I struggle to see who will benefit from this plan other than foreign competitors. If anything, the President’s proposal will further discourage cattlemen here in the United States from expanding their herds, thereby perpetuating one of the very problems that led to higher beef prices in the first place. Also, I’d be remiss to not point out that the proposed lifting of out-of-quota tariffs on foreign beef extends just past the upcoming midterm elections. Selling out American cattlemen in hopes of performing better at the ballot box is a sad betrayal of the farmers who keep this country fed.”
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
—
![020626_KSHB_Image_NXA_Web_Standard Cube[88].jpg](https://ewscripps.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/0ead409/2147483647/strip/true/crop/300x225+0+13/resize/960x720!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fewscripps-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F8f%2F6c%2Ffad8bd2346c5a4d4ead793017d4a%2F020626-kshb-image-nxa-web-standard-cube88.jpg)