Guest Editorial - Ahlers: Importing foreign beef misses the mark
When families see the price of beef rise at the grocery store, they deserve real solutions, not temporary fixes that could hurt American farmers and ranchers.
Importing more foreign beef may sound like a simple answer to lowering prices, but it misses the real problem. The issue isn’t just the number of cattle. It is also who controls the path from the ranch to the grocery store.
Today, four major meatpacking companies handle approximately 85 percent of steer and heifer purchases in the United States. That concentration leaves many ranchers with only a handful of potential buyers for their cattle. In some areas, producers have even fewer choices. When there is little competition for livestock, farmers and ranchers have less negotiating power and can be forced to accept lower prices. Meanwhile, consumers can still pay more at the meat counter.
That is why importing foreign beef misses the mark. It may put additional beef into the system for a short period, but it does nothing to address the lack of competition that has made our food supply chain increasingly dependent on a small number of giant corporations. Recent proposals to increase tariff-free beef imports have also raised concerns among ranchers that cheaper imports could undermine American producers and discourage the rebuilding of our domestic cattle herd.
We should be asking a different question: How do we build a stronger, more competitive American beef industry?
The answer should include expanding the number of independent and regional meat processors in this country. More processors mean more buyers competing for cattle. That gives ranchers and farmers more choices and greater bargaining power. Increased competition can help ensure producers receive a fairer price for the livestock they raise, while competition throughout the supply chain can also put downward pressure on costs for consumers.
This isn’t a new or radical idea. The U.S. Department of Agriculture itself has recognized the need to diversify the meat processing industry. USDA’s Meat and Poultry Processing Expansion Program was created to expand processing capacity, strengthen competition, improve supply-chain resilience and create more local market opportunities. The agency recently made $60 million available through another round of the program, and its SPUR program provides up to $500 million to support independent and regional beef processors and preserve competition in the marketplace.
That is the direction we should be heading. We need to invest in American farmers, ranchers and locally-owned businesses. We should help independent processors overcome the enormous costs of starting or expanding a processing facility. We should support producer-owned cooperatives and regional processing facilities that create jobs and keep more of the economic benefit in rural communities.
For too long, we have allowed consolidation to leave farmers, workers and consumers at the mercy of corporations that have enormous control over our food supply. When only a few companies dominate an industry, everyone else loses choices.
If we want lower prices for consumers and fair prices for producers, we cannot simply import our way out of the problem. We need to build a stronger domestic supply chain and create real competition.
The goal should not be to make America more dependent on foreign beef or a handful of corporate giants. The goal should be to give our farmers more buyers, our consumers more choices and our local businesses a real opportunity to compete.
That is how we strengthen rural America. That is how we build a more resilient food system. And that is how we stop allowing large corporations to hold farmers and consumers hostage.
Dan Ahlers, Dell Rapids, is the South Dakota Democratic Party candidate for governor.
