Australia is sending record amounts of beef to the United States as cattle prices hit all-time highs ahead of grilling season—and while the Trump administration rants about the "radical left" destroying American beef, Australian producers are quietly cashing in.
According to the ABC, beef and cattle prices in the United States are at record highs and imports are increasing. The US demand for lean beef is helping Australia's cattle market during a year of high turn-off due to dry conditions.
Here's what's happening: the US cattle herd is shrinking. Drought, rising feed costs, and structural changes in the American cattle industry mean fewer animals are being raised. The Trump administration blames the "radical left," drought, and meat processors for the shortage, according to the ABC report.
Meanwhile, Australian cattlemen are sending more beef to American markets than ever before, at premium prices, and banking the profits.
This is a story about how Australian producers are benefiting from American dysfunction. While America argues about who destroyed the cattle industry, we're shipping them record amounts of beef and getting paid handsomely for it.
The timing works for Australia in a perverse way. Dry conditions across much of the country are forcing higher turn-off—that is, more cattle going to market because there isn't enough feed or water to keep them. Normally that would depress prices as supply exceeds demand.
But the US shortage is so severe that Australian producers can send their drought-affected cattle across the Pacific and get record prices. American consumers need beef, American producers can't supply enough, and Australian exporters are filling the gap.
The US demand is specifically for lean beef, which Australian cattle produce well. American cattle are often grain-fed, producing fattier meat. Australian cattle are more commonly grass-fed, producing the lean beef that Americans use for ground beef and processed meat products.
