American and Arizona Farm Bureau urge restraint on beef imports from Argentina into the United States. Recent coverage of President Trump's proposal to increase Argentina beef imports to address high U.S. beef prices has sparked widespread backlash from ranchers.

The plan, floated during a conversation on Air Force One, aims to support Argentina amid its economic struggles but has been criticized as market interference that could crash domestic cattle prices at a time when U.S. herds are at 75-year lows due to droughts and high feed costs.

“We know America's families face challenges when food prices rise, but it's important for President Trump to remember that farmers are facing an economic storm as well, and a vibrant U.S. cattle herd is at stake,” said American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall. Many of America’s beef farmers have operated in the red for several years. Adverse weather and low prices drove cattle herds down to levels not seen in decades. Weakened cattle prices are the last thing needed in farm country, where farmers are being paid historically low prices for crops across the board while expenses remain high.”

In Newsweek, Justin Tupper, President of the U.S. Cattlemen’s Association, said, “USCA supports affordable food prices for American families. But we do oppose policies or loopholes that manipulate the market to address a solution that will be solved through natural market behavior. This approach weakens our industry’s foundation and undermines rural America. We raise some of the safest, best protein on the planet. And a lot of those countries, Brazil, Argentina, they don't have the same safety protocols as we do."

In Arizona, cattle ranchers have dealt with ongoing drought, reducing herds. Arizona cattle rancher and Graham County Farm Bureau President Ben Menges said, “If our country wants to lower beef prices, a first step should be to increase the number of cattle ranchers. We have vacant allotments across the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service managed lands that haven’t been filled in 40 years or more. The trend on federally managed lands has been to decrease permitted capacities and never to increase, and now, ironically, we are seeing an increase in beef prices as cow herds diminish. My belief: before we seek out beef from other countries, we should focus on increasing beef production in our own backyard.

“We urge the administration to carefully consider the damage importing more beef and cattle from other countries will have as cattle farmers decide whether to invest in rebuilding America's herds,” added Duvall. “Just the mention of beef imports created more instability and uncertainty for America’s ranchers. Flooding markets with foreign-grown beef could affect our nation’s ability to be food independent in the long term. We look forward to learning more about the president’s plan, and we stand ready to work with him to ensure farmers and ranchers can survive this economic storm.”