Senator John Thune joins his excuse-making colleague Senator Mike Rounds in soft-pedaling his criticism of Donald Trump’s really stupid plan to import foreign beef and sell it at a communist-controlled discount:
“I’m sympathetic to what he’s trying to get done,” Thune said. “He’s trying to lower beef prices, which I think we’re all supportive of. I just don’t think this is the way to do it. And so, we have a lot of beef producers here in South Dakota; they produce the highest-quality beef in the world, and we’re trying to build our herds back up” [Dan Santella, “Thune Weighs In on Beef, Iran, Data Centers, SAVE Act,” KELO-TV, 2026.09.01].
The ranchers Trump is hurting with his import/price-control plan are giving us more straight talk about Trump’s dumb proposal than our butt-kissing Senators. Missouri stockyard owner Jim Hertzog doesn’t waste time trying to sound sympathetic to the man betraying him and his cattle producers:
“Typical Trump. I couldn’t believe it,” Hertzog says. “This is the third time that he’s attacked the cattlemen with three major tweets, and this one seems to be more devastating than any of the others. The board has crashed. I mean, the August feeder board is down almost $40 now, which is several dollars per head.”
With fall run approaching, Hertzog says the timing couldn’t be worse for the producers who sell through his barn.
“We’re not a cow-calf producer, but we’re a backgrounder,” Hertzog says. “But our producers that we sell for, they’re going to be taking considerably less for their cattle than they would have if he just kept his mouth shut.”
Asked how much less, Hertzog points to real numbers moving through his ring.
“A six-weight steer, some of them sold here two months ago — let’s say a month ago — bring $3,000 a head,” Hertzog says. “Today, $2,300 or $2,400.”
…Asked directly whether the president’s plan to lower ground beef prices hinders herd rebuilding, Hertzog doesn’t mince words.
“Yes, 100%,” Hertzog says. “You can look at the board, and the value of a calf has dropped dramatically in the past 30 days. Everybody’s losing confidence in rebuilding the herd. It’s gone.”
…Asked what he would tell the administration directly, Hertzog is blunt.
“Just stay out of our lane,” Hertzog says. “Let the market work. That’s what it’s designed to do. Stay out of our lane. Put country-of-origin labeling in place. Make sure it gets on the farm bill and passes. And then the American public can decide” [Tyne Morgan, “‘Stay Out of Our Lane’: Cattle Producers Say Trump’s Beef Import Plan Feels Like Betrayal,” Drovers, 2026.08.31].
We should have no sympathy for a President who continually makes policy that hurts American agriculture. Rally the majority you supposedly lead, Senator Thune: call the President on the carpet, tell him straight up that’s hurting the rural Americans he pretends to be fighting for, and demand that he abandon this harmful and fishy beef-import plan.