NEW<\/span>You can now listen to Fox News articles!\n <\/p>\n<\/div>\n President Donald Trump’s<\/u><\/a> beef import plan aims to cut prices, but cattle ranchers say it misses what\u2019s crushing them most \u2014 the power of meat packers.<\/p>\n “Meat packers have created a system where they win no matter what\u2014at the cost of everyone else,” said Will Harris, a fourth-generation cattleman and owner of White Oak Pastures in Bluffton, Georgia.<\/p>\n Harris, who plans to hand off the operation to his children, said his farm handles every step of production, from raising cattle to processing and selling beef, giving him a clear view of how prices are set.<\/p>\n AMERICA\u2019S SMALLEST CATTLE HERD IN 70 YEARS MEANS REBUILDING WILL TAKE YEARS AND BEEF PRICES COULD STAY HIGH<\/u><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Sixth generation cattle rancher Mark Kirkpatrick feeds his yearly heifers on his ranch, named the Stoker-Kirkpatrick Ranch, in Post, Texas.<\/span> (Melina Mara\/The Washington Post\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n At the center of that pricing power sit the “Big Four” \u2014 Tyson, JBS, Cargill and National Beef \u2014 anchoring the U.S. beef supply chain from pasture to plate.<\/p>\n Together, the packing titans process about 85% of the grain-fattened cattle that become steaks, roasts and other supermarket cuts.<\/p>\n “The U.S. beef market is so highly concentrated that a small number of dominant packers control processing, distribution and pricing. This allows them to pay ranchers less for cattle while charging consumers<\/a> more at the store. When cheap imported beef enters the system, it allows packers to increase their margins,” Harris told Fox News Digital.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a concern echoed deep into cattle country.<\/p>\n Texas<\/a> cattle rancher Cole Bolton said he sees the same problem in the Lone Star State.<\/p>\n IN TEXAS CATTLE COUNTRY, ONE RANCHER WELCOMES TRUMP\u2019S FOCUS ON DECADES OF THIN MARGINS<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n A photo of cattle rancher Cole Bolton and his wife in Texas.<\/span> (Courtesy of Cole Bolton)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n “What the real issue is, is the price differential between the big four packers and what they’re paying us for the product,” said Bolton, the owner of K&C Cattle Company.<\/p>\n Those margins, Bolton said, have been squeezed for decades. “Ranchers have dealt with such thin margins of profitability for the last 20 years.”<\/p>\n While ranchers like Bolton and Harris say Trump\u2019s temporary expansion of U.S. beef imports<\/a> from Argentina may help ease prices in the short term, both warn it is no substitute for rebuilding domestic production.<\/p>\n “Imports should be a bridge, not a long-term replacement,” Harris said. “We must rebuild the American cattle herd, protect American farmers and ensure transparency, so consumers understand where their beef comes from. Long-term affordability depends on a healthy, resilient domestic cattle industry\u2014not permanent dependence on foreign beef.”<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1200\/675\/cattle-rancher-texas.png?ve=1&tl=1\")
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