Where’s the cheap beef?
In its latest article on rancher opposition to the bone-headed beef-import plan that nobody but Trump’s pals in Brazil and Argentina like, Northern Plains News links to a Farm Bureau podcast discussing the Farm Bureau’s data showing—no surprise!—that the price of hamburger at most grocery stores didn’t change in the first month of Trump’s foreign favor:
American Farm Bureau Federation tracked daily prices of 80% lean ground beef at 41 grocery stores in 22 states starting Sept. 2, the day after the proclamation went into effect. We selected a variety of chain grocery stores and independent grocers across America, in major cities to rural areas, to see how ground beef prices reacted to the additional supply of beef.
Across our sample, the average price of ground beef barely moved, going from $7.29 a pound on Sept. 2 to $7.13 a pound on Sept. 23 – a reduction of 16 cents or approximately 2%. The chart below tracks the lowest, highest and average price across all stores each day. The average line stays nearly flat for three weeks, never rising above $7.38 or falling below $7.13, even as lower-tariff beef entered the country [Bernt Nelson and Dr. Faith Parum, “Increased Beef Imports Have Not Lowered Prices for Consumers,” Farm Bureau Intel, 2026.09.23].
The price of ground beef didn’t go above $6 per pound under good old Preident Joe Biden.