Steve Forbes: Schumer's Beef Industry Bill Targets Wrong Cause as U.S. Cattle Herd Hits 75-Year Low
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer's proposed "Family Grocer and Farmer Relief Act" would restructure the U.S. beef industry even as the national cattle herd stands at its lowest point in 75 years, Steve Forbes argues in a new opinion piece, calling the legislation a misdiagnosis of a supply-driven price problem that Washington cannot legislate its way out of.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer's proposed "Family Grocer and Farmer Relief Act" would restructure the U.S. beef industry even as the national cattle herd stands at its lowest point in 75 years, Steve Forbes argues in a new opinion piece, calling the legislation a misdiagnosis of a supply-driven price problem that Washington cannot legislate its way out of.
Cattle Supply, Not Corporate Conspiracy, Drives Prices
The U.S. Department of Agriculture puts total cattle and calves at 86.2 million head as of Jan. 1, 2026, down from 94.8 million head on Jan. 1, 2019 — a drop of roughly 9% in seven years. The 2025 calf crop came in at a record-low 32.9 million head, the second consecutive year a new record low was set.
Forbes traces the compression to years of drought in major cattle-producing states, compounded by rising feed, energy, land, labor, and regulatory costs during the Biden administration — policies Schumer supported. Retail beef demand rose sharply from 2019 to 2025 while supply contracted, producing the price pressure families now feel at the grocery counter.
The biology of beef production compounds the lag. From the birth of a heifer to the point where her offspring can enter beef production takes roughly three years, Forbes notes. No Senate press conference can accelerate that cycle.
Packer Margin Data Undercuts Price-Gouging Narrative
Beef packer margins in 2025 averaged a loss of roughly $138 per head, according to Forbes. Tyson Foods reported an operating loss of more than $1 billion in its beef division that year — numbers Forbes characterizes as the opposite of monopoly windfall profits in a capital-intensive industry squeezed by the tightest cattle supply in more than three generations.
Forced restructuring of meatpackers, Forbes argues, would add duplicated infrastructure, higher financing costs, litigation, and supply-chain uncertainty — outcomes most likely to raise prices at the counter, not lower them.
Forbes: Stability and Lower Costs, Not Political Restructuring
Forbes calls for reducing regulatory burdens on farmers, ranchers, and processors; lowering energy and transportation costs; keeping import and export markets open; and reducing tariff and input-cost pressures that slow herd rebuilding.
He also questions the ideological consistency of Schumer's allies — Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Bernie Sanders of Vermont — who have spent years urging Americans to eat less beef on environmental grounds while now positioning themselves as defenders of beef affordability.
The U.S. cattle herd can be rebuilt and prices can ease, Forbes writes, but only if Washington provides stability and lower costs rather than threatening to remake an industry mid-cycle for a campaign talking point.