05/18/2026
People say they want cheap food.
•Cheap burgers
•Cheap steak
•Cheap milk
•Cheap eggs
Cheap always comes with a cost, and that cost has been the drastic loss of the American farmer.
For decades, farmers have been squeezed from every direction.
•Fuel costs rise.
•Feed costs rise.
•Fertilizer costs rise.
•Equipment costs rise.
•Land prices rise.
•Insurance rises.
•Taxes rise.
Meanwhile, in most cases, the farmer is expected to sell everything at wholesale while buying almost everything at retail.
Think about that last sentence for a second. Don’t skip over it, let that sink in.
A new cattle farmer may spend years building infrastructure:
•Building fences
•Buying feed
•Building handling facilities
• Improving pasture
• And countless other improvements
…….all before even seeing a paycheck for all the work put in. This here is why the farms we have lost will not be replaced. It’s simply too expensive to start for young farmers.
Meanwhile a large part of other farmers are aging out.
I personally don’t see how the cattle industry can improve itself. We are at the smallest herd size since the 50’s in the US. We have extremely high beef demand but not the cattle to meet that demand.
People see the final beef price and think the farmer is getting rich. Most small farms are simply trying to survive and try to grow a little in the process. Surviving and growth both take extremely high input costs. As well as countless man hours.
Industrial food systems trained Americans to expect food to be cheap at any price. Right now we are paying that price for undervaluing the American farmer.
Each year, more small farms disappear because
the math no longer works.
You cannot demand:
•Local food
•American-raised beef
•Higher animal welfare
• Healthier food
•Sustainable farming
…….while also demanding the absolute cheapest price possible.
Cheap food has never really been cheap. The true costs was just pushed onto the people producing it.
I will end with this. I was watching an interview a couple days ago. The person being interviewed was predicting $10 pound ground beef by the 3rd quarter of 2026. He believed this price would not level out till sometime in 2027.
This is a problem that has been decades in the making. It’s not going to fix itself quickly….if a fix is even possible.
Elvin Bradford
Homestead Hollow Farm
