Commentary: US Rep. Sam Graves

U.S. Rep. Sam Graves R-Missouri

Dear Friend,

Many years ago, I took a trip to New Zealand with a group of Missouri farmers. We took over coolers of our American beef as a gift. One night at dinner, we cooked it up alongside some of their beef that they had been touting. Guess which one was left over after dinner?

That’s right. The folks from New Zealand were far more interested in our American beef.

The taste, the marbling, the tenderness…simply put, American beef is better.

For years, Missouri cattle producers have endured difficult markets with low profits. That’s turned around a bit lately, but the reality is that the price you pay at the store isn’t all going to the farmer. In fact, much of it goes to one of the big four beef processors who control 85% of the market. Our nation’s cattle herd is at a historic low, and folks are leaving the cattle business because all the work they put in doesn’t seem worth it for the return.

While I believe bringing down the cost of living for American families is important, we can’t do it at the expense of our farmers. A few months of cheap imported ground beef probably won’t make a big enough dent in the retail price to matter much to consumers, but it will put a dent in the future of the American cattle industry. What we should be doing is growing the herd, and farmers need certainty to do that.

That means addressing issues like competition in the meatpacking industry and providing more access to capital and better risk management tools. I was encouraged by USDA’s announcement this week that they are introducing a new beef retention endorsement for the Livestock Risk Protection program, aimed at incentivizing holding back heifers to expand the herd. They also announced steps to support local and regional processing efforts, to shift processing capacity into the hands of smaller, American-owned businesses.

Our farmers and ranchers need solutions that lower costs for consumers, protect American producers, and strengthen our domestic cattle industry for the long term. None of this happens overnight, but I will continue to stand with our American farmers and ranchers as they work to produce the highest quality beef in the world, right here in America.

Sincerely,

Sam Graves