Donald Trump is facing a growing rebellion from inside cattle country, as ranchers accuse his administration of wrecking their livelihoods while American families contend with sky high beef prices at the grocery store.
The frustration has been building up for months, and as a result Mo-Kan Livestock auction owner Jim Hertzog blasted the administration on X. “Great job of destroying the United States Cattle industry,” he wrote, tagging both the president and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins. Hertzog posted a screenshot of feeder cattle futures trending down across the board.
Meanwhile, beef prices for consumers continue climbing to record levels. The beef and veal index jumped roughly 15 percent year over year in the latest inflation print, far outpacing price increases. Ground beef prices are now at levels that many wouldn’t have seen coming just a few years ago. Economists explain that drought, smaller herds, and rising feed costs have created a limited supply and higher prices.
Trump’s attempt to address the problem has largely centered on trade. The administration recently moved to sharply expand the low tariff quota for Argentine beef, raising it to 80,000 metric tons in a bid to let cheaper imports flow into the United States and ease prices. Officials have also floated larger increases in Argentine imports, even as they continue touting tariffs on Brazilian cattle as a victory for domestic producers.
Great job of destroying the United States Cattle industry @POTUS @SecRollins you both got outplay.
Box beef, Higher
Cattle down the limit. Anytime the government gets involved ,They mess everything up. pic.twitter.com/VdY5Mf2fuX
— jim hertzog (@mokanjim) November 24, 2025
Many ranchers warn that boosting Argentine imports will only undercut American cattle producers, especially at a moment when herds are the smallest they have been in decades and ranchers were finally beginning to see improved margins. Groups like the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association argue that the policy “creates chaos at a critical time” and does little to reduce grocery store prices, since most of the forces driving the beef surge are domestic.
Hertzog’s market warning is shown in futures charts he shared, showing feeder cattle prices hit record highs in early October but have fallen sharply in recent weeks. Prices remain up about 15 percent since the start of the year, leaving ranchers with market swings that make planning nearly impossible.
John Boyd, president of the National Black Farmers Association, said the prices he received for cattle he sold last week were “significantly down,” blaming the administration’s Argentina decision for sending the market “downhill from that point.” He added that Trump had “ruined agriculture and American farmers” in less than a year.
Even some of Trump’s longtime allies in red state agriculture are critical of his policies. Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller, a Republican and vocal Trump supporter, warned publicly that expanding Argentine imports would hurt domestic ranchers and urged the administration to focus instead on rebuilding the American herd and expanding processing capacity.
Agricultural economists say the ranchers’ anger is understandable. Argentina still supplies only a sliver of America’s beef imports, and experts note that increasing those shipments will barely touch the structural issues behind high prices, from drought battered pastures to disease disruptions and years of herd liquidation.
Trump has pushed back, insisting that ranchers are better off thanks to him. In a recent social media post, he argued that tariffs on foreign cattle, including a 50 percent tariff on Brazil, are the only reason ranchers “are doing so well, for the first time in decades.”
But on the ground, that message is not resonating. As Hertzog put it in a follow up comment, “Anytime the government gets involved, they mess everything up.” For now, ranchers are staring at shrinking checks, soaring consumer prices, and an administration they increasingly blame for both.
