Mark Caserta: Letter to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture regarding lowering beef prices for Americans.

12 Apr

Brooke L. Rollins

Secretary of Agriculture

1400 Independence Avenue, S.W.

Washington, DC 20250

PROPOSAL FOR LOWERING U.S. BEEF PRICES WHILE ENSURING FOOD SAFETY AND PROTECTING AMERICAN FARMERS.  12.5.2025

Several drought years and other factors have caused beef prices to be at an all-time high.

Based on research, below are some options for increasing beef supplies, lowering costs, ensuring food safety and protecting our U.S. farmers which will require legislative action and partnership.

Support drought-recovery programs

  • Government feed subsidies or drought-relief grants help ranchers rebuild herds more quickly.

Incentivize faster herd rebuilding

  • Temporary tax credits or low-interest loans give ranchers capital to expand herds sooner.

Expand processing capacity

  • Many ranchers have cattle ready, but not enough USDA-approved processing plants exist.
  • More regional plants = more supply on the market = lower prices.

Reduce Costs for Farmers & Ranchers

  • When ranchers face high costs, retail beef prices stay high.
  •  Lower feed costs.  Feed is the single biggest expense.
  • Temporary feed-grain import relief (corn/soy)
  • Targeted subsidies for feed during drought years

Fuel & transport cost relief

  • Diesel costs heavily affect cattle transport.
  • A short-term fuel tax reduction or livestock transportation credit would lower costs fast.

Strengthen Competition in Meat Packing

  • Four meatpacking companies control over 80% of U.S. beef processing.

Let’s increase competition:

  1. Give ranchers higher prices for cattle
  1. Lower consumer prices for beef
  2. Reduce market manipulation

Short-term actions:

  • Enforce existing antitrust rules
  • Prevent anti-competitive contracts
  • Encourage new, small USDA-certified processors with grants

Encourage Domestic Production Over Imports

  • This protects farmers AND stabilizes U.S. supply.

Reinstate Mandatory COOL (Country of Origin Labeling)

  • When consumers know beef is U.S.-raised, ranchers get fair prices.

Close loopholes allowing foreign beef to be labeled “Product of USA”

  • Currently, beef shipped to the U.S. and cut or repackaged here can legally say “USA.”

Fixing this:

  1. Helps U.S. farmers
  2. Builds consumer trust
  3. Stabilizes domestic production


Improve Cattle Health & Reduce Losses

Faster, cheaper ways:

  • Increase USDA funding for veterinary services
  • Improve vaccine access
  • Support for digital livestock tracking to catch disease faster

Lower mortality and better weight gain = lower prices at the store.

Expand Direct-to-Consumer Beef Sales

  • This cuts out the middleman and dramatically lowers consumer prices.

Actions:

  1. Help small farms sell locally
  • Fund mobile USDA-certified slaughter units
  • Reduce regulatory barriers to farm-to-table markets. This produces immediate price relief for local communities.

Strengthen Food Safety Without Burdening Farmers

  • Some farmers face high regulatory costs that could be streamlined.
  • Without weakening safety, the U.S. could:
  1. Simplify inspection paperwork
  2. Expand digital inspections
  3. Provide grants for safety-compliance technology

Less overhead = lower producer cost = lower beef prices.

Fastest options for quickest result to achieve overall goals

  1. More processing capacity (unclogs the system immediately)
  2. Feed cost reduction
  3. Fuel/transport credits
  4. Strengthening competition in meatpacking
  5. Reinstating COOL to protect U.S. farmers
  6. Direct-to-consumer sales expansion

Mark Caserta

Huntington, WV

304-444-7216

Candidate for WV House of Delegates District 28

Tags: , , , ,

Leave a comment