Why Your Next Steak Might Cost as Much as a Used Car… And Trump’s Policies Won’t Help

While crypto bros and stock day traders believe Donald J. Trump is the messiah of everything broken (rumor has it he’s going to end world hunger, cure baldness, and maybe turn water into wine while he’s at it), one industry is still hopeless. No matter who he hires or what policies he throws at the wall, the beef industry is beyond saving.

Sure, Trump has served Big Macs at the White House like the most relatable billionaire ever, manned a McDonald’s drive-thru with the enthusiasm of a teenager at their first job, and hawked Trump Steaks on cable TV. But even his legendary art of the deal can’t steer this cattle catastrophe back on course.

The US cattle industry is stuck in a rut so deep it’s about to hit magma. The national beef herd has shrunk to 89.3 million head… its lowest level since 1961 (back when Elvis was still rocking sideburns and nobody had heard of kale). Ranchers are butchering cows every time you blink. And even though beef prices are up 30% since 2020, the extra cash is just going toward patching up years of losses.

(Source: Fox News)

Take Cash Carruth (yes, that’s his real name), who runs 250 head of cattle in New Mexico. He claims that today’s profits are just enough to patch up financial wounds from the last decade. Expanding his herd? Not a chance. Breeding cattle right now is financial suicide.

Apparently, raising a single cow from calf to market takes up to two years, with feed costs chewing up profits faster than cows on fresh grass. Corn prices have doubled in the past decade, and skyrocketing interest rates make borrowing for expansion almost impossible.

(Source: The Colorado Sun)

It’s also a long game with zero guarantees. Rebuilding herds takes years, during which ranchers foot the bill for feed, care, and land (praying the weather and markets don’t turn against them). For ranchers like Cash, the risks outweigh the rewards.

And let’s not forget Trump’s favorite hits: immigration reform and tariffs. Meatpacking jobs, notoriously held by immigrants, are already hard to fill. Stricter immigration policies will just make it worse. Labor costs for giants like Tyson Foods and JBS are about to go through the roof.

(Source: KUNC)

Meanwhile, the US is importing a record 2 million metric tons of beef this year. That’s 15% of domestic consumption coming from Canada, Mexico, and Australia. Trump’s tariffs might slow down those imports, but short-term? Get ready to sell your kidney to afford a steak. The hard truth? Even Trump (America’s loudest Big Mac enthusiast) can’t fix this mess. The USDA doesn’t expect herd rebuilding to begin until 2027, meaning years of skyrocketing steak prices and more chicken on your plate.

So if you’re holding out for Trump to bring back $5 steaks, you’re better off betting on him launching a Trump-branded chicken nugget empire. At least nuggets come with dipping sauce to soften the blow.

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