Two major Mississippi agricultural groups criticized President Donald Trump’s announcement that the United States will allow up to 300,000 metric tons of government-subsidized ground beef into the U.S. supply chain, saying the move will create an “unlevel playing field” for U.S. farmers.
Trump posted on Truth Social on Friday that the deal would run for 90 days with no out-of-quota tariff and would reduce prices for American consumers, adding he had a commitment that the beef would be sold at 25% below current market prices. “This deal will reduce prices for Americans while giving space for our Great American Beef Herd to grow again,” he wrote, according to the post.
The announcement comes as the U.S. herd is smaller than in decades. The Associated Press reported that the U.S. cattle herd had dropped to 86.2 million head on Jan. 1, the lowest level in 75 years. The AP, citing the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, also reported that the average price of a pound of ground beef rose nearly 57% from July 2021 to July 2026.
The Mississippi Cattlemen’s Association said flooding the U.S. market with subsidized foreign beef “is not the way to rebuild the American cow herd or strengthen our domestic cattle industry.” The group warned the decision is “creating additional market volatility and uncertainty” at a time when producers are preparing to market calves and said the policy “does nothing to encourage rebuilding the U.S. cow herd.”
Mike McCormick, president of the Mississippi Farm Bureau Federation, called the plan “highly disappointing” and said it would have a “major impact on cattle prices in Mississippi” when producers are marketing cattle. McCormick said the policy could “possibly do permanent harm” to herd-rebuilding efforts and urged the administration to focus on reducing fuel and input costs to help American agriculture, saying the current decision could have “long-lasting unintended consequences on American food security.”
Jon Ross Myers is the executive editor and publisher of the Mississippi News Network, Mississippi's largest digital only media company. He can be reached at editor@tippahnews.com
