The Secretary of Health and Human Services says the U.S. needs more beef. Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. told attendees of the 2026 Cattle Industry Convention, “We’re begging you to increase the size of the herds.”
Kennedy says the new food pyramid encourages consumers to eat more protein. “We need a lot of beef, and we want to make it right here in America,” he says. “We don’t want to be importing it from other countries.”
During his fireside chat with NCBA president Buck Wehrbein, he said the administration wants to see producers focus on expansion. “Nobody in the Administration wants to be importing beef,” he says. “President Trump has promised the American people to drive down the price of groceries and there has to be a balance of those priorities.”
Kennedy says he realizes that it will take time for any herd growth to increase beef supplies for consumers.
On Friday, in an effort to address retail prices for beef, President Trump signed an Executive Order that temporarily quadruples the amount of lean beef trimmings imported from Argentina. The move authorizes an 80,000 metric ton increase, which will be administered on a first-come, first-served basis in four quarterly tranches. The first wave is set to open February 13, 2026.
