South Dakota U.S. Senator Mike Rounds met with President Donald Trump and U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins Tuesday (Oct. 21, 2025) to discuss the President’s plan to import some beef from Argentina.
Rounds said they agree the U.S. needs an America First game plan that prioritizes American farmers and ranchers. Following the meeting, Rounds said he’s “encouraged by the desire of President Trump and Secretary Rollins to do right by the American producer.”
Rounds said American cattle producers have been at a disadvantage for far too long. Opening the market to even more foreign beef, which American consumers cannot differentiate because of current labeling rules, would only exacerbate the problem and hurt domestic producers. He said implementation of Mandatory Country of Origin Labeling—MCOOL– would be a commonsense policy that empowers consumers to choose, but instead it “continues to sit on the shelf.”
Additionally, Rounds said the Packers and Stockyards Act continues to be ignored, as four companies– two of which are Brazilian-owned– monopolize the beef processing market. He said that issue cannot be resolved by displacing American beef with foreign beef. It will only be resolved when consumers are able to differentiate where their product is coming from.
Rounds, who says he’s heard from hundreds of South Dakota cattle producers, urges patience as we wait for the President to release the details of his plan.
Meanwhile,
Brian Bengs, an Independent candidate, is challenging South Dakota Republican U.S. Senator Mike Rounds in the Nov. 2026 general election.
Bengs criticized the Trump Administration’s recent announcement that the U.S. would begin purchasing beef from Argentina to try to lower prices in the retail meat case at a time when family ranchers in South Dakota already face shrinking margins and volatile markets.
Bengs, a retired Air Force officer, former criminal justice professor, and former Wind Cave National Park ranger, expressed disappointment with the prioritization of a foreign economy over the well-being of American producers. “We can bail out Argentina for $40 billion and we can buy their bargain basement beef, but we can’t fund healthcare tax credits or support struggling family farms & ranches? Our priorities are upside down.”
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