STEVE FORBES: Chuck Schumer has a beef with beef, but doesn’t even know how to grill it

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has ne'er worked a cattle ranch. He has ne'er tally a meatpacking plant. And aft America saw his backyard grilling stunt, it is just to inquire whether helium knows however to decently grill a cheeseburger.

Yet arsenic Americans hole to observe the 250th day of our nation’s independency this July 4th — successful the bosom of summertime grilling play — Schumer wants Washington to musculus its mode into the U.S. beef industry.

What could perchance spell wrong?

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Plenty.

Sen. Chuck Schumer's grilling skills were criticized by some near and close successful this now-deleted X post. He tin beryllium seen placing American food connected an uncooked burger. (X)

Schumer’s alleged "Family Grocer and Farmer Relief Act" is classical Washington liberalism: find a existent problem, misdiagnose the cause, prescribe a cure that makes things worse and telephone it "relief." We person seen this successful healthcare, energy, lodging and education. Politicians make oregon worsen a crisis, blasted backstage endeavor and past usage the symptom arsenic an excuse to grow authorities control.

Beef prices are high. Families consciousness it each clip they spell to the market store. But the origin is not a cartoon conspiracy by meatpackers. It is basal economics: beardown request and choky supply.

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Retail beef request roseate sharply from 2019 to 2025, portion America’s cattle herd fell to its lowest level successful 75 years. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, full U.S. cattle and calves stood astatine conscionable 86.2 cardinal caput arsenic of Jan. 1, 2026. That is down sharply from Jan. 1, 2019, erstwhile the inventory stood astatine 94.8 cardinal head, a driblet of astir 9% successful 7 years. The 2025 calf harvest was a record-low 32.9 cardinal head, the 2nd consecutive twelvemonth a caller grounds debased was set.

That is not terms gouging. That is proviso and demand.

For years, drought battered large cattle-producing states. Ranchers faced soaring feed, energy, land, labour and regulatory costs. Inflationary Biden-era policies — backed by Schumer and his allies — made everything much costly for farmers, processors and consumers alike.

Now Schumer wants to punish the precise proviso concatenation families beryllium on.

Cattle are not widgets. Congress cannot walk a measure and nutrient much beef. Chickens tin beryllium raised for marketplace successful weeks. Beef cattle instrumentality years. From the commencement of a heifer to the constituent wherever her offspring tin yet participate beef production, the process tin instrumentality astir 3 years. That agelong rhythm depends connected weather, feed, financing, land, labor, commercialized argumentation and assurance that authorities volition not abruptly alteration the rules midstream.

No Senate property league tin velocity up biology.

Schumer’s alleged "Family Grocer and Farmer Relief Act" is classical Washington liberalism: find a existent problem, misdiagnose the cause, prescribe a cure that makes things worse and telephone it "relief." 

The facts connected meatpacking besides demolish the Democratic price-gouging narrative. Beef packer margins successful 2025 averaged a nonaccomplishment of astir $138 per head. Tyson Foods reported an operating nonaccomplishment of much than $1 cardinal successful its beef part that year. These are not the numbers of monopolists pocketing windfall profits. They are the numbers of a capital-intensive manufacture squeezed by the tightest cattle proviso successful much than 3 generations.

But Schumer’s measure ignores each that. It besides ignores the harm done by years of anti-business policies imposed by the aforesaid politicians present pretending to beryllium champions of consumers.

Instead of lowering costs, reducing regulatory barriers, encouraging investment, expanding processing capableness and keeping commercialized channels open, Schumer wants Washington to politically restructure the beef manufacture successful the mediate of a proviso crunch.

That is economical malpractice.

Cattle rancher Brad Randel rounds up immoderate of his achromatic Angus cattle to merchantability astatine auction connected Sept. 12, 2022, successful McCook, Nebraska. (Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post/Getty Images)

Breaking up companies whitethorn marque for bully populist dependable bites, but it is seldom clean, speedy oregon cheap. In nutrient processing, forced restructuring would mean duplicated infrastructure, higher financing costs, stalled investment, litigation and uncertainty crossed the proviso chain. The apt result: less efficiencies, little capacity, much hazard and higher prices astatine the nutrient counter.

Wealthy shoppers buying premier cuts from boutique butchers whitethorn hardly notice. Working families buying crushed beef for burgers, tacos, meatloaf and weeknight dinners will.

There is simply a amended way. Washington should trim the outgo pressures that made beef much costly successful the archetypal place. Ease unnecessary regulatory burdens connected farmers, ranchers and processors. Lower vigor and proscription costs. Keep import and export markets unfastened during changing proviso cycles. Reduce tariff and input-cost pressures that marque herd rebuilding slower and much expensive.

Most of all, fto markets work.

And fto america not hide who is pushing this scheme. Schumer’s allies see the Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., helping of authorities — the aforesaid assemblage that has spent years demonizing beef, lecturing Americans astir what they eat, and flirting with Green New Deal ideas that would marque food, substance and energy much expensive.

Inflationary Biden-era policies — backed by Schumer and his allies — made everything much costly for farmers, processors and consumers alike.

One time they archer america to devour little beef to prevention the planet. The adjacent time they unreal to beryllium shocked that beef is much expensive.

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America’s beef marketplace volition recover, but not if Washington turns a proviso occupation into a government-control problem. Herds tin beryllium rebuilt. Investment tin return. Prices tin ease. But that requires stability, little costs and assurance — not politicians threatening to remake an full manufacture for a run talking point.

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As America marks 250 years of independence, we should retrieve what made this state prosperous: backstage enterprise, spot rights, constricted authorities and escaped markets.

Chuck Schumer whitethorn not cognize however to grill a cheeseburger. But helium should cognize capable not to pain down the beef industry.

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