USDA and Utah Public Lands share “Plan to Fortify the American Beef Industry”

On October 22, 2025, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) stated its intent to address the straining American beef indus­try. The report cited over 17 percent loss of U.S. cattle ranches, over 150,000 indi­vidual beef production businesses. Said the press release, “The national herd is at a 75-year low, while consumer demand for beef has grown nine percent over the past decade. Because in­creasing the size of the domestic herd takes time, the USDA is in­vesting now to make these markets less volatile for ranchers over the long term and more affordable for consumers.”

Photo via Kane County.

The plan itself iden­tified three key pri­orities for fortifying the beef industry: protecting and im­proving the business of ranching, through increased grazing ac­cess, endangered spe­cies reforms, disaster relief, increased ac­cess to capital and reducing costs for new ranchers; expanding processing, consum­er transparency and market access by cut­ting inspection costs for small processors, increasing market op­tions for consumers and ensuring clear labelling of USDA grade American beef; and building demand along with domestic supply by reducing prices for consumers and growing markets through grants and protein-focused di­etary guidelines.

The Grazing Action Plan was of particular interest to the Utah beef industry, as one of the primary concerns with local ranching and one of the primary stress points for local ranchers is the consis­tent legislation locking away more and more viable grazing land behind endangered species areas and pub­lic land declarations. The plan calls for the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management to reassess vacant lots with grazing potential and streamline appli­cations and renewals - potentially reopening swathes of grazing land.

Kane County’s twice-a-month newsletter stated of the new plan, “...it’s great news for Utah’s rural econo­mies … For every dollar spent at a lo­cally owned business, nearly half stays in the community - strength­ening Utah’s rural economy. We’re proud to work alongside PLP­CO to protect access, promote responsible use and strengthen rural economies.”

The plan was signed into action late in Oc­tober, and started in early November, but it will take some time to see nationwide reduc­tions in prices. Accord­ing to the USDA re­port, President Donald Trump received mixed praise and criticism for a shift in tariff policy aimed at reducing beef prices, specifically the elimination of beef tariffs for Argentinian imports and the multi-million dollar deal to quadruple the amount of beef the U.S. imports from Argentina in the coming years. Some experts in the beef industry state that while the numbers seem daunting, it will not be a significant enough change in the beef economy - per Kanab local Boyd Cor­ry, proprietor of Kanab Custom Meats and one of the area’s primary beef providers, “That import amounts to less than two percent of demand in the U.S. … it’s not really going to affect prices, and it’s not really going to affect ranchers, it’s the processing plants getting a sudden boost who are winning out of all of this.”

The Public Lands Policy Coordinating Office (PLPCO), the BLM and the U.S. Forest Service will be the primary points of contact as the plan is enacted, and their respective newsfeeds will be sources of further information. Kane County sends out a newsletter twice a month with general updates, which locals can access by sending a request to communica­tions@kane.utah.gov