The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) under Secretary Brooke Rollins has just announced a new initiative that can best be described as “Unleashing American Cattle Power”.
The agency has put forth a new rancher support plan aimed at boosting the American beef industry by opening more public lands to grazing and cutting regulatory barriers to ranching and beef processing. The initiative, supported by the Trump administration, is part of a coordinated effort between the USDA, the Department of the Interior (DOI), and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to stabilize the national beef supply.
Legal Insurrection readers may recall my report on the nation’s herd levels, which were the lowest recorded in over 70 years. The goal of the Trump administration is to build up the animal inventory and help farmers reduce ranching costs.
“America’s food supply chain is a national security priority for the Trump Administration,” Rollins said. “We are committed to ensuring the American people have an affordable source of protein and that America’s ranchers have a strong economic environment where they can continue to operate for generations to come.”To protect the livestock industry and incentivize expansion, Rollins said USDA would “immediately expedite deregulatory reforms, boost processing capacity, including getting more locally raised beef into schools, and working across the government to fix longstanding common-sense barriers for ranchers like outdated grazing restrictions.”According to Rollins, the U.S. has lost over 17% of cattle ranches and more than 150,000 operations since 2017, pushing the national herd to a 75-year low, while consumer demand for beef has grown approximately 9% over the past decade.Because increasing the size of the domestic herd takes time, Rollins said USDA would make investments to reduce market volatility over the long term for producers and consumers.
The USDA issued a 13-page white paper with its agenda to support American cattle ranches. The plan directs the Forest Service and BLM to reopen millions of currently unused acres for grazing, streamline environmental reviews, and simplify permit renewals.
It also establishes a joint USDA–DOI initiative to make grazing a top federal priority, giving ranchers a stronger voice in land management decisions and speeding up access to public rangelands. The effort aims to reverse decades of herd decline and create new opportunities for young and veteran ranchers.
The plan also removes or scales back several environmental regulations seen as obstacles to ranching and processing. Legal Insurrection readers may recall my report on the EPA attempting to target our meat industry with ponderous new rules related to clean water standards. Those requirements have now been culled from the herd.
i. EPA Action: The EPA is promoting regulatory certainty and clarity for America’s ranchers by ensuring a clear, consistent, and durable definition of “Waters for the United States” (WOTUS) under the Clean Water Act. In addition to that action, the EPA has withdrawn a 2024 proposed rule that would have imposed costly new wastewater discharge requirements for meat and poultry processing facilities.ii. Implementation: EPA has already taken action on the WOTUS definition and has withdrawn the Effluent Limitations Guidelines and Standards (ELG) rule.iii. Results: This action will prevent $1.1 B to $7.8 B in future compliance costs, allowing more meat and poultry processing facilities to be built in America.
There are many other elements to this plan, including how to better address challenges faced by ranchers from wolves and other predators, and how to reduce burdensome fees.
I recently noted that the Health and Human Services plans to revisit recommendations related to saturated fatty acids, which are found in meat and dairy products. This agency is also part of the initiative.
The Small Business Administration and Health and Human Services are also part of the initiative, focusing on financial assistance for family ranches and promoting beef as part of a nutrient-dense American diet.Officials said the suite of actions is designed to “fortify domestic beef production,” making markets less volatile for ranchers and more affordable for consumers while strengthening the nation’s food security.
I am grateful, as a steak-love and butter-user…and as an American who appreciates food security.
I wonder how triggered the climate cultists and vegans are going to be by this news?
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