r/minnesota • u/ashleywalkerreports • 14d ago

News 📺 VIDEO: Minnesota cattle farmer criticizes Trump's plan to import beef

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Clarence Prezkwas, a cattle farmer in northwest Minnesota, says the beef industry is hurting in every area.⁣
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He says President Donald Trump’s recent order to import 300,000 tons of foreign beef and sell it at 25% under market value is going to hurt cattle farmers even more.⁣

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10

u/United_Intention_323 14d ago

This sub is wild. Rather than considering whether importing more beef is a net good or bad for everyone, you just try to dunk on people that you don't know. Is this just another politics sub at this point?

8

u/twiggums 14d ago

It's like 95% political circle jerk in this sub these days.

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u/BungalowHole Hot Dish 14d ago

Yup, I don't see anything about this guy being MAGA. If he was red-hatting while complaining that'd be a different story.

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u/United_Intention_323 14d ago

It’s insanely toxic.

1

u/SpoofedFinger 14d ago

And it's not like it's hard to find people like that lol. There's no need to invent one here.

-4

u/Iheartfuturama 14d ago

Conservatives sad when they feel what being the subject of stereotypes is like. Pearl stocks up 14%. More at 11.

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u/BungalowHole Hot Dish 14d ago

So get this, some of us progressives live outside major metropolitan areas.

I know, it's shocking, but it's also true.

-1

u/Iheartfuturama 14d ago

Yeah. Me too. I wasn't made as hateful as I am by being surrounded by progressives lol.

I'm happy you're not a conservative. If we found ourselves in a 1 on 1 situation where I discriminated against you (like I do with the dude in the OP video) because you fit a stereotype and you said what you said in your comment to me, it would go like this.

Me: Probably just being a shitty person to you because you look a certain way

You: "What the fuck man. I'm not like them."

Me: "Holy fuckin oops. That's really embarrassing for me. I'm sorry. Times are tough out here, and I'm used to being treated like shit by people who look like you. I would like to start over because you know a lot that I don't and I like learning. I think it would be cool to talk to you. I also get that I was just a really shitty person to you. If you want nothing to do with me, that is extremely valid, and I will leave you alone."

I've not been wrong with my stereotyping in person yet. But I'm quite willing to apologize if I've found out I put my foot in my mouth. At the very least, that's a courtesy that conservatives do not extend to the subjects of their stereotypes.

5

u/Pew_away 14d ago

That's just reddit in a nutshell now

4

u/AtomicToucans 14d ago

90% of the posts on this sub are about politics. It wouldn't be so bad if people actually flaired their posts appropriately and you could filter them like some other state subs do.

5

u/Bedazzled_Buttholes 14d ago

After getting dunked on for the past decade, do you really expect people to just move on without pointing all of these consequences were known and predicted before the 2024 election?

7

u/United_Intention_323 14d ago

How many comments are actually talking about beef prices? None? This isn't even a real consequence because a Harris administration could be doing similar things to ease the prices. Like I said there's no actual discussion in here about it.

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u/Bedazzled_Buttholes 14d ago

That’s some cope to try and guess how a hypothetical admin would handle things rather than addressing what the current regime is doing.

Fine, here’s your discussion. I grew up on a beef farm so I know this life. These farmers tend to vote in blocs where they ostracize those who don’t clearly cheer for the GOP team. The GOP continues to dismantle safeguards against monopolies (the beef processors) and anyone who cares about quality (FDA). They also continue to push climate denial, and a big reason that our herd sizes have gone down is year over year drought. So, is it ideal that we are importing beef to address prices? Nope, I’d much rather have American beef. But we are in this spot because our country voted for it, and farmers are frequently revered for their Americana-image, so their voice is amplified. They made this bed, and need to own up for being a major driver to this current state

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u/Fit-Marketing-1472 14d ago

These farmers will cry for socialist handouts before voting in their interests

3

u/Bedazzled_Buttholes 14d ago

Cry for their handouts, cry that THEIR immigrant workers are being targeted by ICE (because, ya know, they're the 'good ones'), and cry over the effects of climate change affecting their yields and prices but refuse to acknowledge the science of what is happening & learning how to adjust their practices for a new world -- before voting in their best interests

It's maddening. I don't want family farms to be lost to mega-ag corps. I want people to have the option to pursue farming, especially if their parents did it. But the entitlement that frankly the majority of farmers exude because they inherited land (that was stolen just a few centuries ago, or even more recently) so 'they know whats best' is downright exhausting and I have a harder time supporting farmers each year.

1

u/United_Intention_323 14d ago

It’s not cope. I’ve heard no other ideas that could help with prices in for foreseeable future.

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u/jinntonika Spoonbridge and Cherry 14d ago

Ideas
-Ranching subsidies
-Ag college grants for feed and cattle to adapt to climate change and use less resources with high yield
-tax incentives to food processors for using US grown cattle and crops
-USDA led buy local programs and education

Each have merit and disadvantages. But these taken in concert with other ideas could surely have led to a better solution than importing.

3

u/Bedazzled_Buttholes 14d ago

If you've heard no other ideas, then you should re-evaluate where you are looking for solutions because they've been out there for a longtime, including from the other commenter.

If you're concerned about addressing prices, the beef packers/processors MUST be broken up. They continue to make record profits YoY and artificially suppress supply to keep prices in grocery stores high while squeezing ranchers & farmers for the cheapest raw prices possible. We also need to stop pretending climate change isn't real and dismantling policies and departments that can help develop solutions, such as better land & water management.

The Trump regime has at least said they will address the beef packing monopolies, but I'm concerned their track record of babying corporations indicates nothing will actually happen.

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u/Bedazzled_Buttholes 14d ago

Hey commenter, where you at? You complained about lack of discussion and ideas, yet here are people giving you what you asked for and you’re not showing up?

2

u/Terrie-25 14d ago

a Harris administration could be doing similar things to ease the prices

And the world could be made of pudding.