Adam Murray

Beef Cattle Extension Specialist, PRO-LIVESTOCK, Animal Science

Adam Murray, a beef cattle extension specialist at Cornell University, says this plan isn’t likely to have a significant impact on domestic beef prices.

Murray says:

“Due to the nature of the cattle lifecycle, it would take a minimum of 2 years for Argentina to ramp up beef supply, so it's not like they can turn the spigot on overnight and flood the U.S. market to overpower U.S. beef production. 

“However, from a political/PR standpoint, executive statements like this create the psychology that the administration does not support US cattle producers. Many cattle producers do not understand that beef exports add roughly $450 of value to each head of cattle sold, so there has been a long-standing mistrust of major meat packers like Cargill, Tyson, and JBS with the thought that they collude against U.S. cattle producers. 

“Because the cattle industry is horizontally integrated, price signals can be slow to move through the supply chain. The reality is that the 4 segments of the beef supply chain are basically never all profitable at the same time. So right now, cow-calf producers are enjoying record profits while packers are losing money. While I highly doubt that Argentina can export enough beef to significantly affect the U.S. beef pricing, cattle futures markets have plummeted in the days following these statements purely because of human psychology.”