Trump Won’t Be Able to Save the Struggling US Beef Industry
Even before the Republican’s upcoming return to Washington, the country’s cattle industry has been in a deepening rut.
Photographer: Chris Kleponis/Pool/Getty Images
He has manned the McDonald’s drive-thru, served Big Macs in the White House and peddled Trump Steaks on cable TV. But even a red-meat loving president like Donald Trump won’t be able to save the struggling US beef industry.
A severe shortage of cattle, which has fueled grocery-store price hikes and wiped-out billions in meat-processor profits, is primed to get worse before the next election cycle. The US beef herd is already the smallest since 1961 after years of depressed prices, severe droughts and surging costs forced farmers to send more females to slaughter. Now, the possibility of new tariffs and immigration reform risk constraining supplies further still.