‘Ridiculous’: Local ranchers react to President’s beef plan
October 23, 2025 5:55 PM
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) – Local cattle ranchers are calling out a move from the White House as U.S. beef prices continue to rise.
Farmers blame higher prices on extreme weather and other factors depleting the number of cattle.
So, to counteract the costs, President Trump says he has plans to import more beef from Argentina, buying up to four times the usual amount. He says it will bring the cost of beef down.
But some ranchers claim this is not fair to American ranchers. At Ranch Foods Direct in Colorado Springs, the owner tells KRDO13 the cost of beef is not that high; he points to the people selling it. He says he thinks the plan raised by President Trump doesn’t make any sense.
“My initial reaction was, that’s — that’s ridiculous,” shared Mike Callicrate, “Why would we bring foreign beef in to further replace, you know, domestic producers?”
He explained how they operate at Ranch Foods Direct.
“We raise the livestock. We slaughter our cattle right on site in Saint Francis, Kansas, so they don’t get on a long truck ride. And then we bring the carcasses to Colorado Springs to this facility on Town Center Drive, where they’re processed, and packaged into the various meat cuts and made retail ready,” explained Ranch Foods Direct owner Mike Callicrate.
He says this model of cutting out the middleman works. But as the majority of cattle ranchers struggle to make ends meet, he says we need to support our domestic ranchers instead of bringing in product from Argentina.
“We don’t need Argentina to be kind of like the U.S. with big meat packers and processors standing in the middle, just picking everybody’s pockets. We need to leave them alone, let them feed themselves, and we need to feed ourselves. We’ve made such a big mistake over the last at least 40 years by not enforcing the antitrust laws that would have prevented the monopolies from forming those that have taken advantage of producers and consumers, both producers and consumers in the United States,” said Callicrate.
The owner of Ranch Foods Direct says this would hurt both local ranchers and farmers in Argentina. On the other hand, President Trump says that more beef will help to lower the costs for consumers.
“We’re going to do something very quickly and easily on beef to get it down. The ranchers understand that they’re so happy for what I’ve done. I saved them,” said President Trump.
In the meantime, the Trump Administration says billions in farmer assistance programs will continue and that a bigger bailout package is being discussed.