The president of the United States is out of touch.
So is the governor of Illinois.
Let’s review:
On a regular Friday morning, Aug. 21, President Donald Trump announced on his social media account that he would suspend import tariff quotas on 300,000 metric tons of foreign ground beef for three months and sell it for 25% less than U.S. beef. The 90-day period ends conveniently just after the midterm elections.
Cattle producers across America were aghast.
The day before Trump’s announcement, JBS canceled contracts for cattle that primarily end up in the ground market. Unbelievable foresight.
Just a week before that, Tyson restructured its beef division and closed the Joslin, Ill., plant, firing 2,500 workers and immediately eliminating its daily harvest capacity of 3,000 head. Illinois and Iowa farm families had to figure out what to do with 15,000 head of cattle that were committed to that plant and couldn’t be delivered.
That immediately took 34 cents a pound off fat cattle, which is almost $500 a head on a 1,400-pound steer.
“For most Midwestern farms, that’s the entire profit margin and then some,” said Josh St. Peters, Illinois Beef Association executive vice president.
This is market manipulation, aided by the federal government and the president. It’s designed to make the packers more money, and there’s no evidence it will reduce grocery bills.
“These moves certainly pull the rug out from under the feet of our family farmers here in the Midwest, in a time when it is already terribly challenging to pencil profitability on the farm,” St. Peters said.
Then on Aug. 28, Trump announced he was going to break the packer monopoly by allowing farmers and ranchers to process their own food. Please note, you can already do that. You just can’t sell it to someone else. This is not a solution. At best, it’s wishful thinking.
Meanwhile in Illinois, Gov. JB Pritzker used the moment to attack Trump. State Republicans used the moment to attack Pritzker, grossly misinformed if they actually think Illinois taxes are the reason Tyson left the state (if so, explain Washington and Utah plant closures). Everybody issued statements, got their names in print and went on to the next outrage.
In town
Earlier this month, I sat at the Illinois Ag Legislative Roundtable and listened to Pritzker tell the crowd that he’s given more money to school districts. Then he pointed at the crowd and told them to demand that their school boards lower property taxes.
I switched my reporter hat to my school board member hat, because wait a sec. We’ve still got unfunded mandates, right?
In our rural school district, with about 600 K-12 students, we received $3,516,059 from the state in 2021-22 in Evidence Based Funding. For 2026-27, we are projected to receive $3,667,633. Technically, this is $151,574 more. Over five years, it averages about $30,000 a year.
That’s not nearly enough each year to keep up with minimum teacher salary mandates, minimum wage, increases in health insurance (up 25% this year alone), supplies, fuel and general operating cost increases.
Pritzker didn’t mention that. Just that an extra $30,000 a year means we can cut property taxes. He also didn’t mention that the state only reimburses special education mandate costs at 40%, while requiring schools to fund intensive residential placement learning, if that’s what a child needs. One of those, located in Illinois, runs nearly $30,000 a month. For one student.
Unfunded mandates more than wipe out any revenue gains.
What now?
To be clear, Pritzker’s never sent a kid to public school. And Trump’s never bought ground beef. Of course they’re out of touch.
But we count on them to hire people who understand the issues — and then, actually listen to them. Unfortunately, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins made it clear in her remarks at the Iowa State Fair that she hadn’t even talked to the president about the import tariff decision. She’s not at the table.
It’s deeply disappointing that the administration is making decisions that have a sharp impact on ag without consulting the secretary of Agriculture.
Rollins’ message at the Iowa State Fair was focused on price relief for consumers. But that begs a question: If removing tariffs is what it takes to lower grocery prices, what does that say about the impact of all the added tariffs over the past 18 months?
Like everything, it’s unclear how the administration will execute this cheap beef buy into the market, but if even 1 pound of it makes somebody sick somewhere, it’ll kill the beef market for a long time. Heaven forbid.
As a cattle producer, this is personal. The cattle market is a long game, and before we retain and breed more heifers, cow-calf producers like us want to know there’s a profitable market for a calf 20 months from now. We just lost our market in Joslin, and the president is throwing cheap foreign beef at the market from now until the midterms. That doesn’t stabilize prices or give us a reason to retain heifers.
The Trump administration and the federal government need to quit meddling in the market and instead address monopolistic consolidation in agriculture, both in packers and fertilizer.
They could make real changes to meatpacking regulations that would encourage small processors. And they could listen to producers and learn how the very complicated and segmented cattle market works.
Pritzker could actually fund the mandates he’s supported, which would help rural school districts pay teachers the salaries they deserve.
What we want is simple. Less pandering. Less politics. Better policy.
For everyone.
Comments? Email holly.spangler@farmprogress.com.