Oct 23 2025 October 23, 2025 October 23, 2025 NoComment by Mike Callicrate

R-CALF USA Statement on USDA’s Plan to Rebuild the U.S. Cattle Industry

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R-CALF United Stockgrowers of America
Fighting for the Independent U.S. Cattle Producer
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Contact: R-CALF USA CEO Bill Bullard

Phone: 406-252-2516; r-calfusa

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R-CALF USA Statement on USDA’s Plan to Rebuild the U.S. Cattle Industry
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Billings, Mont., Oct. 22, 2025 – Today, Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins announced her agency’s plan for American ranchers and consumers. The plan includes increasing grazing access on federally managed lands, ending the current practice by global beef packers of labeling foreign beef with a “Product of USA” label, encouraging procurement of domestic beef for USDA Child Nutrition Programs, expanding opportunities for smaller beef packers, and working with the U.S. Department of Justice to ensure cattle markets remain competitive and fair.

Bill Bullard, CEO of R-CALF USA, the nation’s largest cattle association that exclusively represents cattle farmers and ranchers, issued the following statement in response to the secretary’s plan.

“We greatly appreciate Secretary Rollins’ proposed reforms for the U.S. cattle industry. It’s the first comprehensive government plan issued in decades for the express purpose of revitalizing the domestic cattle industry, which has been shrinking at an alarming rate since the 80s.

“Increasing grazing access on federally managed lands will increase our industry’s capacity to grow, and her plan to enforce the voluntary ‘Product of USA’ rule that goes into effect on Jan. 1 is an acknowledgement that differentiating USA beef from foreign beef is beneficial to U.S. ranchers and consumers.

“The secretary’s reference to conducting regulatory compliance to ensure cattle markets remain open, transparent and fair, and her plan to work with the Department of Justice to achieve this compliance, suggests to us that the USDA understands the serious concerns we’ve been expressing for years regarding the lack of antitrust and fair competition law enforcement.

“While more reforms are needed to sustain a viable domestic cattle industry that can meet America’s food security needs for generations to come, we recognize the secretary has presented a meaningful plan within the scope of her authorities that will help reverse our industry’s ongoing contraction.

“We look forward to working with the secretary to implement this plan. While doing so, we will continue to encourage Congress to enact mandatory country-of-origin labeling, reform the beef checkoff program, and end the unfunded mandate requiring cattle producers to purchase and affix electronic identification ear tags on their cattle. Importantly, we will also continue working with agencies with trade jurisdiction to address our concerns that excessive imports of beef, cattle, and lamb from around the world have decimated our U.S. sheep industry and severely weakened our U.S. cattle industry.”
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Ranchers Cattlemen Action Legal Fund United Stockgrowers of America (R-CALF USA) is the largest producer-only lobbying and trade association representing U.S. cattle producers. It is a national, nonprofit organization dedicated to ensuring the continued profitability and viability of the U.S. cattle and sheep industries. For more information, visit www.r-calfusa.com or call 406-252-2516.