SAN FRANCISCO
Lee Heidhues 8.26.2026
Full disclosure. The blogger admits he eats an occasional cheeseburger.
The treatment of cattle is cruel and unusual.
The average consumer does not see the cruelty of the slaughterhouse when shopping for beef at the neighborhood supermarket. The beef is nicely packaged in plastic or served up by the ‘butcher’ behind the counter.
Now Donald Trump, a notorious consumer of McDonald’s cheeseburgers, has signed an Order to permit more beef imports. He expects sky high consumer beef prices to drop. The beef industry is in an uproar. It’s just a ploy to boost his floundering presidency before the November 3rd midterm election. Just 69 days away.
Excerpted from Wisconsin State Farmer 8.26.2026
Beef prices have inched upward near record highs, with cattle numbers in their lowest in 75 years due to ranchers culling herds due to years-long droughts that dried up grazing lands and drove up feed prices. The advance of the New World screwworm forced U.S. officials to close the border to Mexican beef, further tightening supplies. Reuters reported that U.S. meatpackers have been shuttering processing plants in response to soaring cattle costs.
Cattle futures fell to eight-month lows shortly after President Donald Trump announced on Aug. 21 plans to allow up to 300,000 metric tons of ground beef imports into the United States at reduced tariff rates in an effort to lower consumer prices.
The Oklahoma Farm Report noted that live cattle futures fell $3 to $4 per hundredweight and feeder cattle futures dropped $3 to $6 per hundredweight Friday morning, immediately following Trump’s declaration on Truth Social that beef imports would be “sold at 25% below current market prices”. By market close, however, many contracts had recovered much of those losses.
At a time when U.S. cattle numbers are at historic lows and ranchers are slowly rebuilding herds after years of drought, high input costs, and disease-related trade disruptions, the administration’s move has triggered pushback from farm and ranch groups and Republican lawmakers who are often aligned with the president on agricultural policy. Many warned that the move could weaken cattle markets, slow herd rebuilding, and benefit meatpackers more than producers.
Criticism was notable coming from Montana Republican Sen. Tim Sheehy, who represents one of the nation’s top cattle-producing states.
“I’ve advised President Trump against this course of action for a year because American ranchers have been struggling against packer monopoly for decades and this will harm them…” Sheehy posted on X. “This action will make it more difficult for American ranchers to rebuild our herd and bring prices down for the American people.”
Top photo: Cattle in the Slaughterhouse
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