Gary Vetter was 10 years old when he started feeding cattle on his family’s farm.
Fifty-five years later, after surviving bouts of extreme weather, changing consumer tastes and global trade disruptions, the Westside, Iowa, farmer faces unexpected risk from the man he supported for president of the United States: Donald Trump.
Faced with intense voter frustration over rising daily costs, Trump declared this fall that beef was too expensive and that ranchers should lower cattle prices. The price of beef was “higher than we want, but it will come down soon,” Trump said.
Like the price of eggs during the Biden administration, the cost of beef has become a symbol of the affordability crisis in the United States. Beef prices hit record highs earlier this year due to declining cattle herds and strong consumer demand.
Trump’s comments shocked ranchers, who overwhelmingly voted for the president. His administration subsequently announced plans to quadruple U.S. imports of Argentine beef with low tariffs, launched an investigation into meatpacking companies for price manipulation, and eliminated tariffs Trump imposed over the summer on Brazilian beef imports.
The series of measures brought down livestock markets, but did not significantly reduce the cost of meat in supermarkets, causing livestock farmers, usually honest people, to speak out.
“It would have been better if Trump had not said anything,” Vetter said. “I’m still a Trump supporter. I’m just not happy being a Trump supporter.”
Reuters spoke to a total of eight ranchers who said they still support Trump, even though he has affected their cattle prices.
Feeder cattle futures fell to an exchange-imposed high that limits how much prices can fall each day and plummeted 21% in just over a month after peaking on Oct. 16. That day, Trump said for the first time that his administration was working to lower beef prices.
LIVESTOCK FARMER FEEL HEAT
The liquidation reduced ranchers’ profits, prevented livestock buyers from making purchases and scared away speculative traders as livestock markets became increasingly volatile, livestock producers and traders said.
“It’s affected the price that we as ranchers are getting; it’s affected what the feedlots are getting; but it hasn’t done anything that I’ve seen or heard of yet that affects what consumers are paying,” said Marty Smith, 66, whose family has been ranching in Wacahoota, Florida, for 175 years.
Cattle futures began to rise in late November after their sharp decline, but remain below their level before Trump’s comments. Economists said it will likely take months for retail beef prices to reflect the decline in livestock markets. The impact on retail prices would also be less drastic, as meatpacking companies, wholesale distributors and retailers stand between ranchers and consumers and drive up costs, they said.
Many ranchers also farm, and cattle had been a positive factor for their businesses as grain and soybean prices fell due to large supplies and Trump’s trade policies. This month, Trump announced a $12 billion aid package, aimed primarily at farmers.
Livestock prices hit record highs throughout 2025, after years of drought dried out grazing lands and forced producers to slash the size of the national herd to its smallest size in decades. As a result of this decline, the United States, for the first time in 2025, lost its position as the world’s largest beef producer to Brazil, according to US government estimates.
With information from Reuters.
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