Oklahoma Farm Bureau President Stacy Simunek released the following statement after President Donald Trump announced plans on Friday, August 21, to import up to 300,000 metric tons of ground beef that would be free from certain tariffs during a 90-day period.
“President Trump’s decision to allow more than 660 million pounds of beef into our country over the next 90 days threatens the viability of family farms and ranches in Oklahoma and all across our nation.
“Injecting a glut of foreign-raised beef into our American food supply will only undermine our U.S. cattle producers who are currently dealing with record-high input prices, a historically small national cattle herd that makes purchasing breeding cattle to grow their operations drastically more expensive, and in many places a lack of adequate grazing for the animals we already do have due to ongoing drought across much of Oklahoma and the United States.
“With all these pressures placed upon our American beef producers, allowing foreign beef products to essentially walk in our country’s front door and onto grocery store shelves threatens one of the few bright spots we have in agriculture: the prices we currently receive when we sell our beef cattle even as the cost of raising cattle increases.
“Oklahoma Farm Bureau members understand the pressure facing consumers as they pay increasing prices at the grocery store because farmers and ranchers are right there beside them paying those prices. However, we must ensure we are not sacrificing the stability and longevity of our domestic beef supply while chasing short-term price relief.”
Also: Read American Farm Bureau’s statement on Trump’s beef import announcement
