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November 2025

Are American Beef Prices Really High? Why Or Why Not?

Sky High Beef Prices? Why?

Wednesday, 11.12.25, Michael and I had the pleasure of interviewing two cattlemen on the program about beef prices; “JohnBoy” Stanley from central Oklahoma and Trent Loos – a multigenerational cattle rancher from Nebraska who is not only an avid activist for homegrown meat (he raises pigs and cattle), but operates several of his own podcasts, a tv show and a Substack. You can actually buy his beef directly online, here!

Let’s not forget, at the end of October, President Trump came out very stridently (I know…when is he not?) for a 40 million dollar bailout package for Argentina, which included lowering tariffs on Argentinian beef in order to import more into the US, ostensibly to help lower the high cost of American beef.

Obviously, this caused consternation among those in the American beef industry who had fallen in behind the MAGA (not to be confused with a Make ARGENTINA Great Again policy) agenda in hopes of seeing American beef on American tables.

Then, after the Argentina plan backfired among US beef producers, Trump called for the DOJ to open an investigation into the meat packing industry, claiming that foreign-owned meat packers are driving up the cost of beef.

Consequently, it felt important to have two independent beef producers on the podcast to talk about what they know about beef and beef production in the US. Unfortunately, it was not an easy topic to cover. In fact, I was shocked at how many moving parts there are in the industry, but one thing is clear – Americans are being herded into funnels managed by just a few elite groups in virtually every area of our lives, including our beef food sources.

When the U.S. beef packing industry is dominated by four major companies – JBS, Tyson Foods, Cargill, and National Beef – which control approximately 85% of the U.S. beef processing market, where is the competition that would bring lower prices? In fact, the beef packing story is worse. A Brazil multinational corporation owns 82% of National Beef and JBS is also Brazilian owned/based. Only Cargill and Tyson are US-owned, but these companies are huge. Again, what about the little guys? How do little guys compete?

Well, they don’t – they can’t. The Big Four are big enough to move the beef markets by themselves, leaving the smaller, independent beef producers often completely out of the market equation – selling cattle for pennies on the dollar just to stay in the business.

You can find the full podcast on our YouTube or Rumble channels and it is well worth the time it will take to watch it.

In addition, John had an AMAZING slide presentation he’s created that has so many really informative slides that you should really go through them to have a good handle on what exactly is going on with the beef industry in America (and Oklahoma). He’s given me permission to include them here, so use them!

Bottom line, though, is this:

Americans HAVE to become more self-sufficient in the way we eat, from growing our own “victory” gardens, to sourcing LOCAL sources for beef, chicken, pork and lamb rather than relying on COSTCO, SAMS or WalMart to have it when we need it. And even when they have it, do you know where it comes from? America’s labeling laws are ridiculous and Argentinian or Brazilian beef can be labeled as though it was from the US in many cases because Country Of Origin Labeling is voluntary. What about what’s in it? What did it eat? Hay covered in Biosludge? These are important considerations if you consider your health something to protect.

We talked about how hard it is for people to be able to go directly to a beef grower and buy a side of beef, for example – HOWEVER – if a group of friends or neighbors bought a side of beef from a local rancher and then split it up among themselves, you’ve significantly increased the odds of that rancher staying in business and of you maintaining your physical health and your direct access to food! It’s a three-way win really!

So, in that vein, let me mention a few farmers I know in central Oklahoma that often have beef – The Humble Hive Homestead in Wellston, Go Farms in Medford, Bertrand Longhorn Beef & Cattle Co in Blanchard and of course, we have lamb (sheep) from time to time, you just need to reach out via email and I’ll let you know. We raise them on grasses with no hormones. You can buy a half, or a whole, whatever you’ve got room and funds for (jenni@rope2.org).

There’s a list of Oklahoma beef producers here as well, and I found that if you search “beef for sale in Oklahoma”, you find a whole lot of ranches and farms, that you can reach out to for local beef. You can always check local butchers as well. Many often carry meat in the cases in their shops for sale, or know who to put you in touch with for farm-raised beef.

So, in closing, YOU CAN DO THIS! You can gain access to home-grown, Oklahoma beef if you work at it and if you need to, you can share the cost with family, friends or neighbors. It’s important we do this. For our health, for our beef producers, but also to thwart the plans of the elitists who want us to having nothing and like it!

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ROPE Report Withdraws From Save Oklahoma Plan Over E-Verify, But Supports Rest Of Author Rep. Jim Shaw’s Plan

E-Verify And the Save Oklahoma Plan

Unfortunately, after having Representative Shaw on the show to talk about the Save Oklahoma Plan, Michael and I decided that we would remove ourselves from the plan.

Here’s a short video that I clipped from the beginning of our interview with Dr. Becky Pelham on why Oklahoma kids can’t read (which you simply must watch because Dr. Pelham is amazing and explains it beautifully – then share with your legislators) that explains why. Really, it’s only #4 on the plan – mandatory E-Verify.

Does this mean we don’t support Representative Shaw? ABSOLUTELY NOT! Of course we support Representative Shaw. The Save Oklahoma Plan can definitely save Oklahoma if we focus on the rest of the 6 points and then try to figure out ways to keep people here illegally from making cash at jobs sites – among other issues. Apparently, ICE and the Oklahoma Highway Patrol (among other state agencies) are making a dent in the problem of illegals in Oklahoma – we should let them continue, while finding ways to catch those slipping through the cracks.

I wrote about several E-Verify issues in our last post, but our friend Knoxie (on X) wrote a really great post about why she is concerned about the E-Verify part of the SOP and it is great information. Check it out.

Bottom line is this – we support Representative Shaw and 6 of the 7 planks in the SOP.

If #4 is changed in some way, Michael and I will reevaluate and sign back on. In the meantime, the grassroots can’t get bent out of shape on the issue of who’s supporting the plan and who isn’t. Arguing with one another over this will create hard feelings and cause us to lose elections we need and possibly prevent good people from running against bad legislators. Let’s just agree to disagree and work together where we can. Next year are important elections. THOSE trump everything in importance. Let’s make sure we unite to get good people in the building a 23rd and Lincoln at all costs!

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OK Republican Rep. Jim Shaw Discusses His 7 Point “Save Oklahoma Plan”

Rep. Jim Shaw's Save Oklahoma Plan

Last Wednesday, Michael and I had one of our favorite new legislators to come on and talk about something he’s been working on called the “Save Oklahoma Plan” (here on YouTube and on Rumble). It centers around the following 7 points:

A list of points from the 'Save Oklahoma Plan' outlining key legislative proposals, including fighting the green energy agenda and ending taxpayer-funded lobbying.

Using his own personal bank account (not campaign funds), Shaw has researched, and written, and quite literally gone on an explainer tour of various GOP groups and other organizations trying to make Oklahomans aware of the concerns he sees – not brewing on the horizon – but waiting right outside our doors.

The ROPE Report was a very early adopter of the plan because the points contained in the plan are incredibly important in securing the lives, liberties and properties of Oklahoma citizens.

Wednesday, on the podcast, we went over each point individually. All of them are exceptionally important, but one was kind of a sticking point for me and some other super conservatives who don’t like the federal government having a hand in much of anything and don’t like the data collection that seems to come attached with anything anymore but then certainly has to be attached to this program to make it work across states!

That sticking point was #4.

During the show we had several questions/comments about the E-Verify issue and here’s the bottom line – it’s E-Verify or nothing right now for one very important reason: the federal government has been given all control over immigration issues – it’s simply not something the state would be able to take on itself. How do we know? Well, though the Constitution does not specifically mention immigration, it’s been consistently upheld in the courts as a federal issue. Recently, an Oklahoma federal judge ruled against Governor Kevin Stitt’s Executive Order on immigration citing immigration as a federal issue.

Unfortunately, because they are not here legally, it is extremely hard to determine how many people are living and working in Oklahoma illegally. Also unfortunately, many of us have stories about how people here illegally are working and while some of these instances could be stopped through the E-Verify system, others can’t.

For example, I have friends who work for companies who hire employees from other countries whom they pay pennies on the dollar so they don’t have to hire Oklahomans at a livable wage. Sure, that’s great for the company’s bottom line, but it doesn’t help Oklahoma graduates become employed in the state. Fortunately, President Trump has cracked down on the H-1B Visas that many of these companies have been using to outsource labor to workers here from other nations, but with the H-1B out of the way, many of these companies have moved solely to the outsourcing avenue. Now, instead of hiring in-country immigrants with H-1B Visas, companies that rely on the internet have just moved to hiring workers from other countries who ‘commute’ to work via the internet.

People I know in the construction business say they’re constantly being undercut in price because construction managers are paying illegal workers cash under the table at a lower rate, rather than pay Oklahoma workers to do the job for a real wage. A woman commenting from social media on the podcast, related that the roofing company she hired to re-roof her house showed up with a crew of workers who couldn’t speak English that she was sure the foreman paid in cash.

So, while E-Verify will not help the problems with outsourcing, or cash-pay on job sites, there may be some measures that can be taken at the STATE level to stop those end-arounds – we’ll just need to work on fleshing those out.

Fortunately, the Trump administration has made deporting people in America here illegally a top priority and that does help a great deal.

Though I’m not a huge fan of Governor Stitt, I am gratified to see him institute Operation Guardian, allowing Oklahoma to work with ICE to deport illegals we taxpayers are supporting while being housed in Oklahoma prisons. Additionally, Stitt has also worked with ICE and the Oklahoma Department of Public Safety to remove illegals from the driver’s seats of 18 wheelers along I-40 to help insure the safety of Oklahomans on Oklahoma roads.

I frankly enjoyed the discussion about E-Verify during the podcast. I think it helped people to see as many sides as we could highlight on that issue. I know that by the time the conversation was finished, I – for one – realized that we simply must be requiring employers to submit to E-Verify. We don’t have any other choice. E-Verify, in concert with Stitt’s partnership with ICE, can absolutely help reduce the number of people here in Oklahoma working illegally.

And honestly, why should any of us be okay with people coming here illegally when legal routes are open? I’m not. In fact, in 2017 I wrote an article for the Federalist, “My Family Had To Follow Immigration Law. Why Shouldn’t Refugees?” You might check that out if you have some idea that, ‘we have jobs to fill that Oklahomans won’t fill’, or ‘we Christians must care for those here illegally’, or any of the other excuses people use to okay lawlessness.

In closing, I’ll leave you with this figure from a study done by FAIR (Federation for American Immigration Reform) on remittance (the amount of money sent back to the countries from which the immigrant came) to Mexico. That’s a whole lot of money leaving the state/nation that could be used to support businesses run by American citizens. We constantly hear our legislators (like Rep Brian Hill) talk about how important it is to keep Oklahoma graduates working in Oklahoma. Cut down on this number and maybe we can get more Oklahoma businesses hiring Oklahoma graduates!

Map showing per capita remittance amounts sent to Mexico by U.S. state in 2024, highlighting varying levels across the country.

Don’t forget to watch the podcast – especially if you have questions about E-Verify! And don’t forget to sign on to the plan at the SaveOklahomaPlan.com website! Rep. Shaw will need as many Oklahomans standing behind him as possible when he begins to run legislation to support the plan – and our health and our state – next session!

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