A new political flashpoint is heating up over your grocery bill, as Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins points the finger at past climate policies for driving beef prices higher across the U.S.
Speaking at an event captured in a C-SPAN clip, Rollins announced a federal antitrust probe into major meatpackers, while also blaming the Biden-era approach to livestock emissions for shrinking America’s cattle supply.
Her message was blunt: what she called a “war on cattle” helped push the U.S. herd to near 75-year lows, tightening supply and sending prices climbing for everyday consumers.
Rollins, a key appointee under President Donald Trump, has repeated this argument in multiple 2025 interviews. She claims policies aimed at reducing methane emissions from cattle led ranchers to scale back herd sizes, creating a ripple effect now being felt at the checkout line.
But the full picture is more complicated.
Experts point to a perfect storm of factors behind rising beef prices. Prolonged drought conditions have reduced grazing land, forcing ranchers to sell off cattle early. At the same time, strong consumer demand has kept pressure on supply, while the industry’s highly concentrated meatpacking sector limits how quickly production can scale back up.
There’s also the issue of timing. Rebuilding cattle herds is not instant. It can take years for ranchers to recover numbers after a downturn, meaning supply shortages can linger even after conditions improve.
The antitrust probe announced by Rollins aims to investigate whether major meatpacking companies are exploiting these conditions to boost profits, a long-standing concern among ranchers and lawmakers across both parties.
Meanwhile, the climate debate continues to loom large. Livestock emissions remain a target for environmental policy discussions, with global organizations and U.S. agencies weighing how to balance agricultural output with sustainability goals.
For now, one thing is clear: the fight over beef prices is no longer just about food. It’s about policy, climate, and control of one of America’s most essential industries.