却被忽视
牧场主认为真正的问题不在于供应，而在于控制美国肉类行业的企业巨头
作者：阿曼达·马西亚斯
福克斯新闻
发布时间：2026年2月8日 美国东部时间上午11:28
美国牧场主协会（R-CALF USA）首席执行官比尔·布拉德加入《福克斯与朋友周末版》，讨论唐纳德·特朗普总统计划从阿根廷进口牛肉的举措，而美国牧场主正面临破产率上升和国内市场萎缩的困境。
新功能：现在你可以收听福克斯新闻文章！
收听本文
（时长：3分钟）
唐纳德·特朗普总统的牛肉进口计划旨在降低价格，但牧场主表示，这一举措忽略了最令他们崩溃的核心问题——肉类加工企业的垄断势力。
“肉类加工企业建立了一个无论发生什么都能盈利的体系——代价却是其他人的损失，”四代养牛世家、乔治亚州布拉夫顿市白橡树牧场（White Oak Pastures）所有者威尔·哈里斯说道。
哈里斯计划将牧场交由子女经营，他表示自己的农场从养牛到加工再到销售牛肉，全程掌控生产流程，因此对价格制定机制了如指掌。
[美国70年来最小牛群意味着重建需数年，牛肉价格或持续高位]
第六代牧场主马克·柯克帕特里克在德克萨斯州波斯特市的斯托克-柯克帕特里克牧场饲养小母牛（Melina Mara/The Washington Post/Getty Images）
这一定价权的核心是”四大巨头”——泰森（Tyson）、巴西JBS、嘉吉（Cargill）和国家牛肉（National Beef），它们主导着从牧场到餐桌的美国牛肉供应链。
这四家加工巨头共同处理约85%的育肥牛肉，这些牛肉最终成为超市里的牛排、烤肉等产品。
“美国牛肉市场高度集中，少数几家主导企业控制着加工、分销和定价。这使他们能够压低牧场主的牛价，同时在商店向消费者收取更高价格。当廉价进口牛肉进入市场时，加工企业反而能扩大利润空间，”哈里斯向福克斯新闻数字版解释道。
这种担忧在牛业集中的地区尤为突出。
德克萨斯州牧场主科尔·博尔顿表示，他在孤星州（德克萨斯州别称）也目睹了同样的问题。
[在德克萨斯州牧场，一位牧场主欢迎特朗普关注数十年的微薄利润]
德克萨斯州牧场主科尔·博尔顿和妻子（Courtesy of Cole Bolton）
“真正的问题在于四大巨头的价格差异，以及他们向我们支付的产品价格，”K&C牛业公司所有者博尔顿说道。
他指出，这种利润空间几十年来一直被压缩：”过去20年，牧场主一直挣扎在微薄的利润率中。”
尽管博尔顿和哈里斯认为，特朗普暂时扩大从阿根廷进口美国牛肉可能有助于短期缓解价格压力，但两人都警告称，这不能替代重建国内生产能力。
“进口应作为过渡手段，而非长期替代方案，”哈里斯强调，”我们必须重建美国牛群，保护美国农民，并确保透明度，让消费者知道他们的牛肉来自哪里。长期价格可负担性取决于健康有韧性的国内养牛业——而非永久依赖外国牛肉。”
[点击此处下载福克斯新闻应用]
布拉德·伦德尔在2022年9月12日内布拉斯加州麦库克市的拍卖会上赶牛（Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post/Getty Images）
多年干旱、饲料成本高企和牧场主人口老龄化导致牛群减少，美国牛群供应降至70多年来的最低水平。
“我认为解决当前牛只短缺危机需要时间。我想告诉消费者：朋友们，请耐心等待。我们必须重建牛群，”博尔顿向福克斯新闻数字版表示。
他指出，牛业在过去五年中，经历了市场动荡、极端天气等一系列挫折，却始终艰难支撑。
阿曼达负责福克斯新闻数字版的商业与政治交叉领域报道。
The single crushing problem American cattle ranchers wish Trump would fix instead
Ranchers argue the real problem isn’t about supply, it’s the corporate titans controlling America’s meat industry
By Amanda Macias
Fox News
Published February 8, 2026 11:28am EST
R-CALF USA CEO Bill Bullard joins ‘Fox & Friends Weekend’ to discuss President Donald Trump’s plan to import beef from Argentina as U.S. ranchers face rising bankruptcies and a shrinking domestic market.
NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles!
Listen to this article
3 min
President Donald Trump’s beef import plan aims to cut prices, but cattle ranchers say it misses what’s crushing them most — the power of meat packers.
“Meat packers have created a system where they win no matter what — at the cost of everyone else,” said Will Harris, a fourth-generation cattleman and owner of White Oak Pastures in Bluffton, Georgia.
Harris, who plans to hand off the operation to his children, said his farm handles every step of production, from raising cattle to processing and selling beef, giving him a clear view of how prices are set.
[AMERICA’S SMALLEST CATTLE HERD IN 70 YEARS MEANS REBUILDING WILL TAKE YEARS AND BEEF PRICES COULD STAY HIGH]
Sixth-generation cattle rancher Mark Kirkpatrick feeds heifers on the Stoker-Kirkpatrick Ranch in Post, Texas.(Melina Mara/The Washington Post/Getty Images)
At the center of that pricing power sit the “Big Four” — Tyson, JBS, Cargill and National Beef — anchoring the U.S. beef supply chain from pasture to plate.
Together, the packing titans process about 85% of the grain-fattened cattle that become steaks, roasts and other supermarket cuts.
“The U.S. beef market is so highly concentrated that a small number of dominant packers control processing, distribution and pricing. This allows them to pay ranchers less for cattle while charging consumers more at the store. When cheap imported beef enters the system, it allows packers to increase their margins,” Harris told Fox News Digital.
It’s a concern echoed deep into cattle country.
Texas cattle rancher Cole Bolton said he sees the same problem in the Lone Star State.
[IN TEXAS CATTLE COUNTRY, ONE RANCHER WELCOMES TRUMP’S FOCUS ON DECADES OF THIN MARGINS]
Cattle rancher Cole Bolton and his wife in Texas.(Courtesy of Cole Bolton)
“What the real issue is, is the price differential between the big four packers and what they’re paying us for the product,” said Bolton, the owner of K&C Cattle Company.
Those margins, Bolton said, have been squeezed for decades. “Ranchers have dealt with such thin margins of profitability for the last 20 years.”
While ranchers like Bolton and Harris say Trump’s temporary expansion of U.S. beef imports from Argentina may help ease prices in the short term, both warn it is no substitute for rebuilding domestic production.
“Imports should be a bridge, not a long-term replacement,” Harris said. “We must rebuild the American cattle herd, protect American farmers and ensure transparency, so consumers understand where their beef comes from. Long-term affordability depends on a healthy, resilient domestic cattle industry — not permanent dependence on foreign beef.”
[CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP]
Brad Randel rounds up some of his Black Angus cattle to sell at auction on Sept. 12, 2022, in McCook, Nebraska.(Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post/Getty Images)
Years of drought, high feed costs and an aging ranching population have thinned herds, leaving the U.S. cattle supply at its lowest level in more than 70 years.
“I think it’s going to take a while to fix this crisis that we’re in with the cattle shortage. My message to consumers is simple: Folks, be patient. We’ve got to build back our herds,” Bolton told Fox News Digital.
He noted that the cattle industry, over the last five years, has weathered one setback after another, from market turmoil to extreme weather conditions.
Amanda covers the intersection of business and politics for Fox News Digital.
发表回复