Some Arizona cattle ranchers are voicing concerns after President Donald Trump suggested importing beef from Argentina to help lower prices for consumers, comments that immediately rattled the cattle market.
“The only price that’s high is beef, and we’ll get that down. And one of the things we’re thinking about doing is getting beef from Argentina,” President Trump said.
Those words were enough to shake the U.S. cattle industry. Beef futures dropped sharply following the comments, worrying American ranchers who say increased imports could hurt their livelihoods.
One of them is Brian DeGanahl, a third-generation Arizona rancher and president of the Arizona Cattle Growers Association.
Out on his family’s ranch, DeGanahl spends long days working his herd with the help of friends and family, branding and vaccinating calves as part of the fall workload.
“Ranching has always been a family business, has been for years,” he said. “This is fall works, but we’re at one corral of many on the ranch.”
According to Deganahl, the President’s comments sent shockwaves through an industry already navigating thin margins.
“90% of cattle ranchers are Trump voters,” he said. “But this was something that we have to call him on, and say no, we don’t agree.”
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While beef prices have risen by nearly a dollar per pound since February, Deganahl says that increase has finally allowed many American ranchers to see some solid profits after years of struggling.
DeGanahl believes those profits could be a sign of a healthy market for the U.S., one that will eventually stabilize prices without foreign intervention.
“We need to be able to make a living ranching,” he said. “The market will correct itself, and there will be more cattle, if there is a profit to be made.”
DeGanahl is also hoping to see a recent USDA plan to strengthen the beef industry in the U.S put into action over the imports from Argentina.
Some Republican lawmakers have also publicly pushed back against the idea of importing beef, saying it could hurt U.S. producers.
As of October 24, President Trump had not made any official decisions on whether to move forward with importing beef from Argentina.
