MORGANTOWN — Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Rachel Fetty Anderson says corporate consolidation, declining cattle herds, agricultural costs and federal policy decisions are contributing to high beef prices, arguing that long-term investment in American agriculture is needed to stabilize the market.
Fetty Anderson, who is challenging Republican U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, made the remarks in an exclusive response to questions from Mountaineer Journal about beef prices, market competition and policies she would pursue if elected.
Anderson began her response by describing her experience raising a calf named Cinnamon as a teenager. She used the experience to explain the time, land and resources required to raise cattle and argued that the slow reproductive cycle of cattle makes the beef supply difficult to increase quickly.
“When I was a teen we had a calf named Cinnamon. She was cuddled, adored and bottle fed on the deck until she was around 800 pounds, my parents needed the cash and the deck couldn’t take it. It takes about a year and a half to get a heifer to 800 pounds and I learned an important lesson, heifers and hamburgers are about the future. Calves take time and if they are going to stay healthy, without too many medical interventions, they take room, a lot of it.”
“The current ‘beef dilemma’ that processors use to justify $16 tubes of burger is the product of years of challenging herd management conditions (drought, fire, flood, screw worms etc.) combined with processor practices that have brought the industry to the point where it will require years of sustained investment and stabilization to recover.”
Fetty Anderson argued that price fixing (when competing companies agree to keep prices at a certain level instead of competing with each other) along with wage fixing and anti-union practices by major processors have driven farmers, ranchers and workers out of the industry.
“Over years, our big processors have responded to factors (natural and market) that increased market costs above consumer and share holder tolerance. Classic corporate interventions like price fixing, drive farmers and ranchers out of the market. Wage fixing and union busting drive stable American workers out of the industry.”
“These practices have gone on for decades. Farmer after rancher has moved on to pork and poultry or off the farm altogether. Workers, documented and undocumented, have struggled to support their families on some of the highest injury prone jobs in the country. (My Mother for example cleaned a kill floor and ended up with a TBI when a pulley fell on the back of her head at an IGA processing plant.)”
“Like every other cost, processors’ costs, including recent settlements for price fixing and wage fixing, have come to roost on the consumer’s doorstep. Current projections by Tyson, one of our largest beef producers, identify litigation costs in the hundreds of millions as a loss source for 2026-2027.”
Anderson then focused on the nation’s shrinking cattle herd. She explained that heifers take years to mature and reproduce, making it difficult for producers to quickly increase the supply of cattle when demand is high.
“And of course, we are in trouble with the heifers. If you aren’t familiar, a heifer is a young female between 1-3 years old who has not yet had a calf. A recent USDA report suggests that a heifer shortage will result in long term challenges to the beef market and ongoing higher market prices. How? Biology and math. Unlike gilts (young lady hogs) who can produce 6 piglets at one year and 2 to 3 litters of 12-13 per year thereafter; heifers might produce one to two calves at two to three years of age and gestation is 9 months. In short, there’s no way for cows to “catch up” with beef demand quickly and those farmers and ranchers who have a pasture focused production schedule are fewer and farther between.”
She also pointed to tariffs, agricultural input costs, imports of South American beef and the reopening of the Mexican cattle border as additional factors she believes could affect American cattle producers. Fetty Anderson raised concerns about cattle health monitoring and staffing at the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
“In addition to the challenges above, all beef producers are further affected by recent political interventions such as unpredictable tariff policies that increase fertilizer and fuel prices, the war in Iran and now, an announcement that 300,000 metric tons (approximately 2% of America’s beef production) will be introduced at cut rate prices from South America. Further, the Mexican border is being opened to Mexican cattle with an unknown level of monitoring for screwworm all following mass firings at the USDA by DOGE.”
“Farmers and ranchers are the solution to our current challenges, but they cannot do it alone. The American beef industry cannot repair itself on fixed prices that undermine their livelihoods or in competition with cut rate imports at the same time their own products are subject to retaliatory tariffs and other more natural factors.”
Asked what she would do as a senator to address beef prices while supporting West Virginia producers, Fetty Anderson proposed a long-term approach centered on financial assistance, herd expansion, farmland preservation and agricultural education.
She called for targeted low-interest loans and investments designed to help farmers retain heifers, expand pastures and increase herd capacity. She also proposed measures aimed at reducing farmers’ dependence on foreign fertilizer and hay.
“Long term problems require long term, non political solutions. Targeted subsidized loan programs at low interest rates can support farm and ranch stability. Investments in herd capacity, heifer retention, pasture increases, acreage retention and regenerative farming can stabilize individual farms and lessen dependency on foreign fertilizer producers and hay production.”
Anderson also proposed allowing carefully regulated imports of healthy breeding heifers, along with cooperative programs among farmers and greater educational investment in large-animal veterinary and agricultural programs.
“Beyond these interventions, carefully regulated importation of healthy heifers from our neighbors for breeding purposes could speed herd stabilization and a return to a more sustainable reproduction schedule. Co-operative arrangements between farmers and even increasing student loan availability and investment in large animal veterinary and agricultural training can create incremental, measurable opportunities to protect and manage herds cost effectively.”
Her proposals also extend to land-use policy. Anderson said protecting farmland from development could help preserve agricultural capacity in West Virginia, while tax policies and insurance programs could provide support to farmers dealing with changing market conditions.
“Zoning that protects West Virginia’s farmland and taxes at industry manageable rates can stabilize property values and taxes on land that is at risk for development simply because it’s flatter and has more access to water. Development of housing on farmland is simply not best use in a country where food costs are skyrocketing. Protecting farm income as farmers transition to more sustainable methods or respond to market factors like fertilizer costs can include things like tax mitigation and crop/ herd insurance.”
Anderson said federal actions affecting agricultural markets should be carefully evaluated, arguing that cheaper imports could benefit consumers while simultaneously putting downward pressure on prices received by American farmers. She also expressed concerns about the potential spread of screwworm if cattle enter the country without sufficient monitoring.
“Politically motivated interventions that are not conducted with care can harm. For example, it’s unclear that either of the most recent actions of the administration are being carried out as carefully as they should be. Importing thousands of pounds of South American beef could lower beef costs pre-midterms, but these imports will also reduce the price of American beef harming the American farmer. Opening the border to Mexican cattle may increase heifer availability and reduce price pressures on herd increases, but without adequate monitoring and low staff resources at the USDA could reintroduce screwworm into American herds.”
“Restaffing the USDA would go a long way towards restoring the educational and regulatory protections required by our agricultural system.”
Anderson said the factors affecting beef prices are part of broader economic conditions involving fuel, fertilizer and other agricultural inputs. She argued that unpredictable tariffs and what she characterized as early policy announcements could contribute to market instability.
“Current market manipulation practices by the administration include everything from tariff unpredictability to Truth Social ‘early notices’ currently being offered by the administration that affect market stability on items such as fuel and fertilizer. Fluctuating access and costs of these items are predicted to harm every sector of the economy and affect every stage of agricultural production.”
When asked how her approach would differ from Capito’s, Anderson said she was unaware of positions from her opponent on several of the specific beef-market issues raised by Mountaineer Journal.
“To my knowledge my opponent has taken no position on any of these issues: market interference by processors and resulting settlements, mass firings at the USDA, importation of lower cost beef or reopening the border to Mexican cattle with inadequate staffing at the border to monitor herd health.”
Anderson then identified several other issues on which she said she understood Capito to have taken positions, including the war in Iran, tariffs and data center development. She connected data center development to potential impacts on agricultural land and irrigation.
“On the other hand it is my understanding that she has actively supported the President’s war in Iran, volatile tariffs and data center development in West Virginia’s communities. In addition to consumer price increases, Data Center Development is already resulting in acreage and irrigation losses for American farms across the country and should be tightly regulated or prohibited in non-industrial settings.”
Anderson concluded by calling for what she described as long-term planning, stronger USDA staffing and greater federal support for farmers and agricultural communities.
“I am committed to long term comprehensive planning and common sense protections against market volatility, manipulation and natural challenges affecting agricultural producers. Strengthening the USDA as the agency charged with these responsibilities must be a priority. No one benefits from sloppy practices or haphazard political manipulation in place of well thought out supports and education. We need competent folks on the ground in our communities who are invested and passionate about protecting and sustaining all aspects of farming and American food production. I look forward to serving West Virginia and weighing in on these critical issues.”
The race will continue into the November 3 general election, when Democratic nominee Rachel Fetty Anderson will face Capito for West Virginia’s U.S. Senate seat.
