THE Trump administration delays a plan it announced last Monday to address high beef prices, which would have suspended all tariffs on imported beef. President Trump had planned to sign Monday a pair of executive orders to suspend tariffs on beef imports and reduce regulations on American cattle producers. The Wall Street Journal reported Trump’s plans to sign the orders. But on Monday evening, a White House official said the actions had been delayed as the administration finalizes details. The delay followed outcry from some congressional Republicans and cattle ranchers, typically a solid part of Trump’s base, said the WSJ.
“I know there’ll be some concerns” among ranchers, Montana Republican Sen. Steve Daines said on Monday following reports of the tariff action (as reported by the WSJ). The tariff issue is a challenging tightrope for the administration, added Senator Cynthia Lummis (R., Wyo.), a cattle rancher. If the tariff changes affect cattle prices when ranchers are selling livestock, “we’ll lose a lot of money,” she said.
The White House official didn’t specify when the administration might move forward with the actions. The administration had planned executive orders that would suspend the annual tariff-rate quota, which applies a higher tariff rate after a certain level of beef imports are reached on all beef-exporting nations, enabling more of the product to enter the U.S. at lower tariff rates. The administration had also planned to direct the Small Business Administration to increase loans and access to capital for U.S. ranchers, and to reduce protections for gray and Mexican wolves under the Endangered Species Act, a focus of rancher complaints. The administration was also prepared to reduce some regulations for U.S. cattlemen, including USDA rules requiring them to use electronic ear tags on livestock.
Cattlemen Oppose More Imports
Opening the way for more imports risked angering cattle ranchers, a reliable constituency of Trump’s, said the WSJ. Trade groups representing U.S. cattlemen opposed the administration’s move in February to enable more beef imports from Argentina. Last Monday they criticized Trump’s planned tariff move, warning that an influx of cheap meat would hurt American ranchers. Temporarily boosting beef imports would likely lead U.S. ranchers to hold back from adding more cattle, unless the administration committed to revisiting import constraints in two to three years, said producer group R-CALF. The National Cattlemen’s Beef Assn last February also opposed any easing of beef import quotas after the administration allowed more beef imports from Argentina a bid to bring down domestic beef prices.
However, JBS NV, the world’s largest meatpacker, says more beef from Brazil would help lower burger prices for American consumers. From a short-term perspective, increasing access would be beneficial to overall beef prices in the U.S. coming down and being more affordable, said Wesley Batista Filho, CEO of JBS’s U.S. unit, in an interview. Ground beef in the U.S. cost an average of $7 per lb April, a new record, the Labor Department said last Tuesday. Ranchers aren’t expected to rebuild their herds any time soon. Drought in the western U.S. is burning up grazing land and preventing cattlemen from expanding their herds, said Filho. If the administration were to drop duties on beef, the U.S. could see a rise in imports of high value steaks, which aren’t currently economical to ship because of tariffs, he added. About 20% of the 29 billion pounds of beef consumed in the U.S. is imported and the U.S. is projected to import nearly 6 billion lbs in 2026, a record.
CATTLE ON FEED FORECASTS
David Anderson, Texas A&M University: COF 101.6%, placed 104.0%, marketed 90.4%: Tyler Cozzens, Livestock Marketing Information Center: COF 101.3%, placed 92.4%, marketed 90.5%; Andrew Gottschalk, HedgersEdge.com: COF 102.1%, placed 108.3%, marketed 90.6%; Rich Nelson, Allendale Inc: COF 100.2%, placed 96.2%, marketed 91.7%; Lori Porter, Allegiant Commodity Group: COF 101.8%, placed 105.9%, marketed 90.5%; Mike Sands, MBS Research: COF 102%, placed 105%, marketed 90%
APRIL SAW LOW PLACEMENTS AND MARKETINGS
FEEDLOTS placed the lowest number of cattle in April in six years for the month. They also marketed the fewest cattle for the month in six years. This meant the Cattle on Feed (COF) report this Friday will likely show that the May 1 COF total was up 1-2% from May 1 last year. The total is estimated to be 11.622M head, up 2.1% from May 2025 and also above May 2024, says Bob Wilson, HedgersEdge.com. The May total above the April COF total is an anomaly, only occurring one other time, in 2017. This is also the first time in 20 months (since September 2024) that a year-on-year increase would be posted for monthly on feed totals, he says.
Front-end fed cattle supplies (COF 180 plus days) on May 1 are estimated at 1.98M head, says Wilson. This is 535,000 head or 37% above the previous year. Placements in April are projected to be up 8.3% from 2025. This level would also be slightly above the five-year average. The hazard to be noted in this forecast is that April placements have never exceeded March placements. If that pattern holds and April is only equal to March levels, then placements would be up 6%, he says.
Projected April placements relative to April 1 feeder cattle supplies fall on the historical average of this ratio, says Wilson. The category of cattle on feed 180 plus days for May 1 this year will post an all-time high for any month, any year. The average days on feed are currently running at approximately 200 days, back above the levels from last year. Cattle on feed 180 days or longer are cattle to be marketed within three weeks, the extreme front-end of marketable supplies. This category projects to maintain levels over 3M head each month into the fourth quarter. Not since 2022 has the industry posted a monthly commercial harvest level over 3M head, says Wilson.
Cattle Prices Hits New Highs Again
Live cattle cash and futures prices, meanwhile, keep on making new highs, while the latest grading week set new highs as well. The 5-area prices the week before last averaged $258.52 per cwt live or $402.50 per cwt dressed. These were up $3.49 per cwt and $3.42 per cwt, respectively, from the week before. Average prices increased even more last week, in a cash trade that began on Tuesday and was active on Wednesday, notably up north. Prices on Wednesday averaged $260-266 per cwt live or $411 per cwt dressed. A light trade Thursday saw prices advance again to $265 per cwt live or $410-415 per cwt dressed up north.
Meanwhile, fed cattle graded a record high percentage of Prime and Choice for the 11th week in a row. For the week ended May 2, cattle graded 15.22% Prime and 73.20% Choice. The combined total of 88.42% just exceeded the prior week’s record of 88.40%.
Fed beef processors meanwhile fail to get much traction on cutout values. The comprehensive cutout (cuts, grinds and trim) the week before last averaged $391.69 per cwt, up $1.29 per cwt from the prior week. The Choice cutout averaged $388.66 per cwt, up $0.82 per cwt. Spot market sales accounted for 28.5% of the total volume of 5853 loads of cuts, grinds and trim. Formula sales accounted for 59.3%, forward sales accounted for 12.2% and export sales accounted for 9.0%. The Choice beef cutout in the face of still higher live cattle prices posted lower prices the first four days of last week, declining $0.94 per cwt. However, the Select cutout in the four days increased by $3.99 per cwt. This meant the price spread last Thursday between the Choice and Select cutouts was a negative $1.55 per cwt, the third negative premium in four days.
EXPORTS CREATE LARGE PER HEAD VALUE
U.S. beef exports in the first quarter were down 11% in volume from 2025’s first quarter. But March was a very robust month for per head export value, which equated to $456.56 per head of fed slaughter. This was down slightly from a year ago but the highest in 12 months. The January-March average was $431.66, up 2% from the first quarter of 2025. March was also a notable month for a surge in exports of beef variety meat. They totaled 29,062 metric tons (mt), up 24% from a year ago and the largest monthly total since 2017. Variety meat export value increased 50% to $135.6M, the highest on record and the third high in four months.
March beef exports totaled 97,731 mt, down 11% from a year ago, while value fell 8% to $844.7M. Shipments increased year-over-year to Mexico, Central and South America, the Caribbean and Indonesia, and were steady to Korea and Taiwan, says the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF). But these results were offset by minimal exports to China. Exports were also below last year to Japan and the Middle East. Excluding China, March exports were 4% above last year’s volume and increased 8% in value. Through the first quarter, beef and beef variety meat exports totaled 275,355 mt, down 11% from a year ago, while value fell 7% to $2.35 billion. Excluding China from these results, exports were 3% higher than a year ago in volume and increased 9% in value, says USMEF.
While China has now been absent for more than year, the U.S. industry is making strides in other markets in beef exports, says USMEF president and CEO Dan Halstrom. The supply situation makes it difficult to grow export volumes but exports are commanding strong prices. Expanding beef variety meat demand is especially critical, as this makes such a key contribution to the value of every animal, he says.
Global customers are increasingly seeking items that deliver excellent value and U.S. beef variety meat is helping meet this need, says USMEF. After setting a monthly value record in December 2025 ($122.1M), export value topped that total in January ($126M) and again in March ($135.6M, up 50% year-over-year). Export volume in March was 29,062 mt, the largest in nine years. Through the first quarter, beef variety meat exports increased 14% from a year ago to 80,654 mt, while value soared 45% to $367.6M. Growth was driven by larger shipments to Mexico, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, South Africa, Peru, Colombia and the Philippines.
Exports Were Steady To Korea
March beef and beef variety meat exports to leading value market Korea were steady with last year at 20,729 mt, while value increased 3% to $209.9, says USMEF. January-March shipments were down 3% in both volume (56,242 mt) and value ($553.6M). Although the changes did not impact first quarter exports, Korea recently began accepting processed products made with beef from cattle less than 30 months of age. An export verification program was also removed following Korea’s lifting of residency requirements for cattle of Canadian origin.
The U.S. has exported larger volumes of beef variety meat to Japan in 2026 but fewer muscle cuts, says USMEF. The combined result is a 4% drop in export volume (57,396 mt) through the first quarter, while value was down 3% to $436.8M. Japan remains the leading volume market for U.S. beef and ranks second to Korea in export value. Beef exports to Taiwan remained strong in March, matching last year’s volume at 5078 mt and increasing slightly in value to $61M. This capped an excellent first quarter, the strongest since 2022, in which Taiwan posted a 22% increase in volume (14,909 mt), while value increased 14% to $168.4M.
While March beef exports to the Caribbean were up less than 1% to 3276 mt, it was the second highest volume on record, says USMEF. March export value climbed 22% to a record $36.9M. Led by growth in the Dominican Republic, the Bahamas and the Netherlands Antilles, first quarter exports to the region increased 5% in volume (8996 mt), while value jumped 27% to $102.7M. First quarter exports were on a record pace to the Dominican Republic, Bahamas, Netherlands Antilles, and Turks and Caicos. Central America followed a pattern similar to the Caribbean, with volumes increasing modestly but at soaring values, says USMEF.
TIGHT CATTLE SUPPLIES HURT JBS
TIGHT cattle supplies in the U.S. weighed heavily on meat packer giant JBS N.V.’s results in the first quarter of fiscal 2026 despite global beef demand remaining strong. Other challenges in the quarter included foreign exchange headwinds, weather and temporary plant stoppages. For the three months ended March 31, JBS experienced a 55.8% drop in net income year-over-year with a total of $221M, equal to 21 cents per share, compared to last year’s $500M and 47 cents per share. Revenue rose 11% to $21.609 billion compared to $19.527 billion the previous year.
In the first quarter of 2026, JBS remained firmly focused on operational excellence, Gilberto Tomazoni, global CEO of JBS told analysts. JBS understands the environment in which it operates and the natural cycles of each protein, and it manages the business with discipline and responsibility. That is why it adopted an austerity approach to reinforce cash generation and ensure it extracts maximum value from its assets and investments, he said. The company accredited its main drivers for performance to the operations of JBS Brazil, supported by strong global demand and the consistent performance of Seara in both domestic and international markets.
In beef North America, the environment remained very difficult, said JBS. EBITDA was a negative $230M, versus a negative $113M a year earlier, with a negative 3.2% margin. EBITDA was impacted by contained cattle supply and higher costs. During the quarter, JBS advanced organizational and operational adjustment across its U. S. beef platform, focused on rationalizing, researching and simplifying its structure in more challenging phase of the cattle cycle, it said.
As the U.S. beef business has evolved, several areas were already operating in an increased and integrated way, JBS told analysts. Building on that, it brought together its three business units, fed beef, regional beef and case-ready beef into a more unified structure. This is a natural step. It reduces duplication, improves coordination and allows JBS to leverage its scale and talent more efficiently, while strengthening decision-making and positioning the business to improve performance over time. These actions are part of a broader effort driving efficiency across the company, it said.
As noted, JBS’s quarterly results were particularly pressured by the JBS Beef North America business unit. However, with historically high cutout levels, the business reported record revenue of $7.167 billion, versus $6.422 billion last year. Still, the increase in live cattle prices outpaced the change in cutout values, reflecting low cattle availability. JBS noted that feeder cattle imports from Mexico remain restricted due to the threat of New World screwworm entering the U.S. As such, supply in the U.S. market was further constrained, it said.
Regaining that access could significantly impact the company’s North America beef business, Wesley Batista Filho, CEO of JBS USA, told analysts. The Mexico border opening for feeder cattle is the most important thing that could ever happen in the short-term to get some sort of relief on the supply side in the U.S. The U.S beef business was particularly pressured in January and February, potentially two of the most challenging months in the company’s history. As such, he expects improvement in the coming quarters, yet he believes 2026 will be an overall more challenging year than the previous one. The year also brought U.S. operation disruptions due to worker strikes. But Batista Filho said the impact was not significant on the business, since JBS was able to redirect volumes to other facilities during this time.
JBS USA Pork posted record first quarter revenue of $2.032 billion, versus $2.002 billion last year. Adjusted EBITDA was $204M versus $223M. The consistent results reflect excellence in execution, strong domestic consumer demand for affordable proteins, and ongoing efforts to expand the branded and value-added product portfolio, said JBS. Profit was also down in JBS’s Pilgrim’s Pride business, with adjusted EBITDA of $308M versus $533M in the same quarter last year.