Rancher View: Imports Won't Rebuild America's Beef Herds

Ben Spell, founder of Good Ranchers, argues that Trump’s plan to import up to 300,000 metric tons of beef tariff-free for 90 days and to expand on‑farm processing won’t fix the longer-term shortage. Rebuilding U.S. cattle herds takes years and requires making domestic production more attractive, reducing barriers for American producers, and expanding domestic processing capacity. He calls for mandatory country-of-origin labeling to improve transparency and warns that relying on cheap, opaque imports could undermine food governance, safety, and long-term affordability. While supportive of processing expansion and existing USDA initiatives, he emphasizes that the solution is stronger domestic production, not a quick import fix.