Wyoming Catholic Cowboys - raw and real: Heavy Ranching

Wyoming Catholic Cowboys - raw and real: Heavy Ranching: With the cows in the corral, we took time to put the final touches on the calving facility to make sure we are ranch ready. Scrambling is th...

Lex Anteinternet: Giving up completely on the GOP.

Lex Anteinternet: Giving up completely on the GOP.: I've noted my political history here before. I'm a Westerner and an Irish Catholic.  That informs my vote pretty heavily. When I fir...

Giving up completely on the GOP.

I've noted my political history here before.

I'm a Westerner and an Irish Catholic.  That informs my vote pretty heavily.

When I first registered to vote Ronald Reagan was President.  Marine Corps Raider veteran Ed Herschler, a Democrat, was the Governor of Wyoming.  D-Day veteran Teno Roncolio, also a Democrat, was our Congressman.  Republicans Malcolm Wallop and Alan Simpson were our Senators.  

That was sort of the political landscape here at the time.   More Republicans than Democrats, but there were still Democrats, and those Democrats tended to be pretty tough conservative people.  Republicans were already tacking off into batshit crazy economic theories but they weren't completely bathed in them yet.

I registered as a Republican.

I didn't stay a Republican for a really long time.  I don't recall when exactly I switched parties, but by the time I was at the University of Wyoming, I had registered Democratic.  I stayed in the Democratic Party for a long time.  I was still a Democrat when I became a lawyer and I know that I was when I was married.  However, sometime after that, I couldn't stand the sea of blood the Democratic Party had become.  I became an independent.

As an independent you missed the primaries pretty much, however, and starting in the Clinton era in general Wyoming Democrats began to drift over to the GOP.  After all, the mainstream of the Democratic Party wasn't all that different from the traditional mainstream of the local GOP.  After awhile, I registered as a Republican.

Little far right Dixiecrats like Chuck Gray like to scream that people like me are "RINOs", when in fact they're the malignant innovation into the GOP.  That element hadn't entered the GOP at the time I was first in it, and didn't for a long time.  Gray himself, who nobody really knew anything about, was probably the first, followed by Jeanette Ward, who served one term in the legislature before losing a bid to retain her seat.  While she lost, that showed the direction things were headed in.  Carpetbaggers who knew nothing about their state moved in and wanted to convert it into pre 1964 Alabama.

It's not as if the Democrats stood still.  As moderate Wyoming Democrats left the party, it too became delusional.  If the Republicans became increasingly fascistic or Dixiecratic, the Democrats lived intellectually in the Greenwich Villages' Stonewall Inn in 1969.  It made going back into the Democratic Party an outright impossibility for people like myself, particularly as they lashed themselves increasingly to abortion and perversion. 

More recently, I'll note, that seems to be wearing off.  The Democrats are still "pro choice", but they don't talk much about it.  For that matter Republicans who were really gung ho on being pro life have sort of lost their fire for that as well, following the lead of Orange Mussolini.

What the Republican Party, nationally, has become is flat out insane.  No thinking person can be a member of it and be comfortable.

There are still good Republicans here in Wyoming.  They began a big fight against the Dixiecrats prior to the legislature and largely prevailed this session, in spite of the fact that the diehard adherents of The Lost Cause were theoretically in control of the solons.  That should give local Republicans who aren't literally whistling Dixie some hope.

But with the current national Trumpites in control, the line has been drawn. 

For years people like Dixiecrat Chuck Gray, or Dixicrat Bextel, have claimed that the Republican Party here was infiltrated with Democrats. Well, it was. They're the Democrats.  Democrats from 1960 Alabama. They just don't know it.  But the screaming lunacy that they've espoused does have an effect after awhile.  Yell at people that "you are a RINO" for long enough, and they'll take it up.

I'm remaining registered in the GOP.  Chuck Gray's efforts to disenfranchise voters has been enough for me in and of itself not to change registrations.  Frankly, if I was to take a run at the House of Representatives, and I've thought about it, I would switch parties as right now that would give a person a place in the November election no matter what.  But I'm not going to do that.  I'm old, worn out, and very tired. 

So I'm remaining in the GOP in no small part so that I can vote for the decent primary candidates, of which there are some right now.

At this point, merely stating that you are "pro Trump" will be enough to cross my vote for you off the list.  At least three House candidates are promising to be Trump's biggest lover, and they're all of the list.  I hope I run into some of them during their campaigns.  I probably will.

And I've already quit giving MAGAs in my midst slack.  Frankly, since the start of the assault on Iran, that's been easy, as the "never war" MAGAs can't explain that one without sounding like hypocrites, and they know it.  Even a few have begun to look as if Valentines to Trump weren't a good idea.

But in the Fall.  I'm not voting for any Republicans for anything.

That won't exactly be easy.  So far here only one candidate from the Democratic Party has signed on to run for a statewide office.  He has my vote even though I like the only Republican whose announced for the same position.  And just because I'm not voting for a Republican doesn't mean I will vote for Democrats.  In my state house district a really decent Republican holds the seat and a young woman from the Democratic Party has announced against him. She's already on the sea of blood ticket.  I can't vote for her, but I won't vote for the Republican I've voted for many times before.

To vote for Republicans in 2026 you have to accept that a low IQ, deranged, octogenarian should have complete dictatorial control over the Federal Government, can start major wars on his own, can demolish parts of the White House as he has the tastes of a bordello owner, can cause the hiding of files on a major pedophile ring, and can have a domestic army occupy the streets.  It also means you have to be willing to sacrifice the environment of the planet for scientific denial.  You have to be willing to endorse lies at a never before seen rate, which makes you a liar yourself if you do. 

I can't go there.

Why Writers Shouldn’t Try to Be Farmers: A Brief History of Failed Utopias

Why Writers Shouldn’t Try to Be Farmers: A Brief History of Failed Utopias: Leaving the city for life on a farm sounds like a great idea until you confront the practical realities: hard work, personal conflicts, and crop failure.

Wyoming Catholic Cowboys - raw and real: Hauling Hay

Wyoming Catholic Cowboys - raw and real: Hauling Hay: Let's just say there was a miscommunication between Jack and I, and he gave away all the hay I planned to use for calving! It was his an...

Lex Anteinternet: In the event of conscription (and Trumpite insiders say the demented octogenarian is considering it) conscript ICE first, and then deploy them.

Lex Anteinternet: In the event of conscription (and Trumpite insider...: Chuck, Reid, John. . . history awaits. There's precedent for it. When Woodrow Wilson, after campaigning on keeping us out of war, commit...

In the event of conscription (and Trumpite insiders say the demented octogenarian is considering it) conscript ICE first, and then deploy them.

Chuck, Reid, John. . . history awaits.

There's precedent for it.

When Woodrow Wilson, after campaigning on keeping us out of war, committed us to the greatest one in the world's history at that time since the Napoleonic Wars, he was faced with the problem that his pacificist Attorney General was of the view that National Guardsmen could be Federalized only to spats within the United States.  That's what kept them on the border, but not over it, during the Punitive Expedition.

But somebody came up with the brilliant idea that as the U.S. was introducing conscription, the entire Guard could just be conscripted. . . so it was, on August 5, 1917, specifically.

ICE already acts like an occupying military force, and it dresses like one.  It's familiar with weapons, as we all know.  If troops are needed for boots on the ground, draft them en masse. 

I'm not joking.  Those who signed up for ICE had to be comfortable with MAGA extremism.  Let them go fight for MAGA.  Draft them into the Army, and if boots are going in, send them.

I'll note I've seen a similar idea posted elsewhere:

Draft MAGA First for Trump’s war!

Go fight for their Trump!

I feel the same way here.  I'm tired of the rah rah MAGAs who are were against war until Trump was for it, and support anything that Trump supports.  Over half of the American public feels Donald Trump is a demented twat waffle.  Let those who admire him go fight and if necessary die for their beloved.  They portray Trump as a hero. . . well here's there very own chance to be one themselves.

Let the Trumps go first.  Barron is of military age and, based on the life history of his family, is more likely to be a boil on the butt of humanity than something benefitting it. Service would do him, and his two brothers, and heck his sisters good.  Maybe the Trump family will pull itself out of the world it lives in and inflicts on the rest of us if they see a little of the rest of it that isn't so rich and gaudy.

Let them go fight, and if necessary die, in their father's war.

And the same for Wyoming mega MAGA Trumpites.  Chuck Gray is still young enough to serve and hasn't had a real job a day in his life.  He's not married and doesn't have any dependents either.  Here's his chance.  He can come back a veteran, maybe a hero, or, if in a body bag, well, there won't be a widow or orphan. Reid Rasner already has the crewcut, and he's single too.  Let him go put his life on the line for Donald.  He talks might big, let him put his mouth, and his body, where his words are.   Yes, there's risk involved, but if that risk isn't accepted, well the words were just that.

Chuck and Reid, a recruiting station is a near as the mall.

And then there's all the "I'm a veteran" candidates out there who on the far right in Wyoming.  Well, if there's one thing being a veteran qualifies you for its military service.  Brent Bien.  . . your chance to show us your mettle once again awaits. . . 

Shoot, let non veteran John Barrasso go.  Heck, make him go.  He's been practicing the Patton "war face" for years.  Yes, he's a geezer, but I'm confident if he asked Donny, Donny would let him go and shortly forget who he was. 

Most Americans didn't want this war.  Most Americans shouldn't have to fight in it.  Perhaps only those who are willing to volunteer for it within the service right now should have to.  We let servicemen with moronic objections to vaccinations out of the service during the Biden Administration.  We should let those who have no desire to fight and die for whatever we're fighting and dying for now get out, if they don't want to serve. Their ranks can be filled by MAGA, ICE, and Trumps.

But it won't happen.

ICE will simply carry on as it is, until 2027.  MAGAs will continue to support any dumbass thing Trump spews out of his decaying brain.  People who have connections with Epstein Island will go on doing what they do.

And if we're still in it by fall and its turning to shit, well 9 out of the 10 "Trump was always right" crowed will deny they ever saw anything in him.  They knew, they'll claim, he was a fraud all along.

Only the dead, Santayana tells us, have seen an end to war.  It's a pretty good guess that no Trumps and no fire breathing MAGA politicians are going to see war at all.  They're okay with Trumps war, but not so much that they'll ever seek out to fight in it.

Not that this is a surprise.  Trump has always felt that servicemen are schmucks.  He's loyal to no one other than himself, and perhaps to those who have something over him.  The dead, well, you know, that just happens.

I leave the garden better than I arrive

 

Lex Anteinternet: CliffsNotes of the Zeitgeist, 119th Edition. Comments on Culture. A Galwaywoman's comment on men and women, Rubio's comments on Western Civilization, and Hegseth hosts a Christian Nationalist.

Lex Anteinternet: CliffsNotes of the Zeitgeist, 119th Edition. Comm...: A series of posts on viewpoints that aren't related. . . well maybe there are. The first one is from Chloe Winter's vlog, which is o...

CliffsNotes of the Zeitgeist, 119th Edition. Comments on Culture. A Galwaywoman's comment on men and women, Rubio's comments on Western Civilization, and Hegseth hosts a Christian Nationalist.

A series of posts on viewpoints that aren't related. . . well maybe there are.

The first one is from Chloe Winter's vlog, which is one of the agricultural ones that we link in here.  Ms. Winter is a married Galway greenhouse farmer (that's how I'd put it) in her very early 20s (maybe actually 20) who took up greenhouse farming when a close friend of hers died.  Galway is very rural Ireland and Galwegians are very rural Irish.  I've actually heard them referred to as "Bog Irish" by other Irish.  The county is one of the few areas of Ireland where there are bonafide Irish Gaelic speakers and it has its own accent, which Ms. Winter very thickly has.

This entry was surprising, in a way in that its very anti first wave feminist, but in a really genuine way.  It may actually be fourth wave feminist.  If released in the US (I believe most of Ms. Winter's followers are Irish), it'd create some sort of firestorm in some social medial communities.

Having said that, she isn't wrong.

And her vocabulary and manner of speech is delightfully Irish.

Two different right wing cultural views emerged from Trump servants so far this week.  What's interesting in part about them is that many commentators aren't able to realize that they actually express radically different world views, which shows how poorly people are informed and educated in some things.

The State Department, which still calls itself the Department of State, posted a photo of Marco Rubio with this entry, summing up his recent deliveries to European figures:

The United States and Europe belong to a civilization that stretches over continents, crossed over oceans, and persisted for thousands of years: from Athens to Rome to America.  

Western Civilization must embrace its noble legacy if it is to reverse its decline.

This flat out puts Rubio in the National Conservative movement and is their thesis to the core.  It doesn't say anything, you'll note, about religion at all, it's all about culture.  You can perhaps read more into that if you want, any many would, but this is pretty much the Dinneen/Dreher/Reno thesis.

You can pretty much rest assured that its not the Trump thesis. Trump just isn't smart enough or interested enough to grasp something like this at all.

Rubio has endorsed Vance for 2028, but it's probably an endorsement of convenience.  By doing this, Rubio has raised his flag in the National Conservative camp.  This, moreover, may actually be what Rubio believes.

Rubio is drawing a lot of attention, and getting a lot of excitement, in Reaganite and other genuinely conservative camps.  He's not a populist.  The big question is whether he can overcome the stench of having been associated with Trump.  A secondary question is whether contemporary American culture, less than half of which is all that conservative, sees itself in this fashion very deeply.

In contrast is Pete Hegseth, who will never overcome the stench of Trump.

The Department of Defense posted this item about its activities this past week:

We have gathered at the Pentagon for our monthly worship service.

We are One Nation Under God.

 

First of all, the Department of Defense has no business whatsoever having monthly prayer meetings.  The United States may be One Nation, Under God, but this basically is a forced acknowledgement of a certain type of Christianity, that being a minority branch of it by far, over every other religion.  Yes, I'm a Christian, and a member of the original Christian faith, but not every soldier is, and no doubt there are soldiers who have no religion at all.  

Moreover, this is Doug Wilson, who appeared here in an earlier discussion.  He's a Calvinist who holds really extreme views.  You can be rest assured that considerably less than half of the American population wants a Puritan Calvinist regime in the U.S. Indeed, a couple of people responded to this Twitter post with:

Christopher Hale@ChristopherHale 13h

Doug Wilson routinely mocks the pope and the Catholic Church.

It’s beyond shameful that  @PeteHegseth  allowed him to lead taxpayer-funded anti-Catholic worship services.

Hale a Democratic Catholic blogger who has a pretty good blog dedicated to Pope Leo that you can also find on our blog lists.  He served in a prior Democratic administration and I'm still waiting for him to explain how an insider Democrat reconciled that with the Democratic Party's support of abortion.  That's an side, but that issue is one of the ones that keeps people like me from being Democrats, even though we aren't voting for very many Republicans any more.

Jim Stewartson, Decelerationist 🇨🇦🇺🇦🇺🇸@jimstewartson 13h

Listen. Doug Wilson is one of the most disgusting revanchist monsters on Earth. He doesn’t think women should vote, wants slavery back, and believes the U.S. should be a theonomy—Government by God. He runs a cult in Moscow, ID.

This is wildly unconstitutional & deeply immoral.

I don't know who Stewartson is, but describing Wilson as a revanchist is correct.  Monster might be a bit much, but he doesn't think women should vote and does think that the U.S. should be a Calvinist theocracy.  I don't know what he thinks about slavery and I'm not going to look it up, but Wilson is articulate and extreme.

And that's why Hegseth's actions here are really disturbing.  Rubio is trying to stake a claim for Western Civilization as special, something the National Conservatives hold and which a lot of people disagree with.  Hegseth is here advancing Christian Nationalism of a type that holds a very peculiar view on the United States' place in the world. 

Last edition:

CliffsNotes of the Zeitgeist, 118th Edition. Why are the women discounted? The corruption of wealth. Hanging around in a cult will make you a weird cultist. New links and the fallen. A gift of cash on the floor of the legislature.

Labels: Distributism, Epstein Scandal, Seven Deadly Sins, Sex, Standards, Taxes, The wealthy, Yeoman's Twentieth Law of Behavior, Yeoman's Twenty-fifth Law of Behavior, Yeoman's twenty-third law of behavior, Zeitgeist

The Rural Blog: America's aging farmers often don't have a family ...

The Rural Blog: America's aging farmers often don't have a family ...: As farmland changes hands, there will be far fewer family farms in the U.S. (Photo by  Johny Goerend, Unsplash) Whether it's the unpredi...

Why These Wyoming Ranchers Feed Winter Livestock With Horse-Drawn Sleighs

 

Why These Wyoming Ranchers Feed Winter Livestock With Horse-Drawn Sleighs

Lex Anteinternet: Larry.

Lex Anteinternet: Larry.:   On duty for fifteen years.

Larry.

 

On duty for fifteen years.

Lex Anteinternet: A few minor observations.

Lex Anteinternet: A few minor observations.: Cosmetic surgery, save for genuine restorative purposes, or genuine medical reasons, ought to be banned. People who claim to be "Consti...

A few minor observations.

Cosmetic surgery, save for genuine restorative purposes, or genuine medical reasons, ought to be banned.

People who claim to be "Constitutional Lawyers" are no such thing, unless they are public defenders. Anyone claiming that title, who isn't, should be sentenced to a term of being a public defender in Dayton, Ohio for their natural lives, plus twenty years.

Seriously, that's a flaming bullshit claim. Ain't no such thing.

If you look like you are 30, when you are 60, due to cosmetic surgery, you are a deeply insecure weenie.

If you are male, and live in a rural area, and don't hunt or fish seriously, you are an insecure weenie and should move to Greenwich Village.

Boxing is a brutal sport, but it's beautiful.

Fleetwood Mac seriously sucks.  Of their songs that suck, Landslide sucks the most.

A twenty something single man giving a lecture on "the fertility crisis" is a freakin' joke.  Geez man, get married and get a real job.

If you have to think about the hairstyle a man is evidencing, he's a weenie.

If a man has perfectly combed hair at all times (think Mike Johnson), he's a weenie.

Lex Anteinternet: Saturday, February 12, 1916.

Lex Anteinternet: Saturday, February 12, 1916. Russians advance agai...: Russian forces captured Fort Kara-gobek at Erzurum. British forces failed to take Salaita Hill in what is now Kenya in the first large scale...

The Rural Blog: Agriculture leaders warn of possible 'widespread c...

The Rural Blog: Agriculture leaders warn of possible 'widespread c...: Nearly half of all U.S. farms are not profitable. (Photo by Matthew Putney, DTN) A bipar...

Lex Anteinternet: The Making of the Christian Man By Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap.

Lex Anteinternet: The Making of the Christian Man By Charles J. Chap...:   The Making of the Christian Man By Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap.

The Making of the Christian Man By Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap.

 

The Making of the Christian Man

By Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap.

U.S. Cattle Population At 75-Year Low Creates Demand, Profit For Wyoming Ranchers

 

U.S. Cattle Population At 75-Year Low Creates Demand, Profit For Wyoming Ranchers

Lex Anteinternet: Trump gives US ranchers the shaft.

Lex Anteinternet: Subsidiarity Economics 2026. The Times more or les...: January 1, 2026. China is imposing a 55% tariff on some (it appears quite a bit of) beef from Brazil, Australia and  the United States. In C...

I'm cross posting this due to Trump's giving ranchers, one are of agriculture where agrarians are hanging on, the shaft.

Subsidiarity Economics 2026. The Times more or less locally, Part 1. The reap what you sow edition.

January 1, 2026.

China is imposing a 55% tariff on some (it appears quite a bit of) beef from Brazil, Australia and  the United States.

In Casper, Vintage Wine and Spirits and Wyoming Rib and Chop are closed as of this morning.

Donald Trump vetoed a water project in Colorado which was passed unanimously by Congress, and which is in a district that is represented by MAGA Lauren Boebert and which voted overwhelmingly for Donald Trump mostly, it appears, as an act of revenge on Colorado.

The costs of at least 350 drugs in the U.S. are expected to rise in 2026.

Also, according to Trump Golf Tracker, Donald Trump has golfed 79 days out of 347 days since returning to office (22.8% of the presidency), at a taxpayer cost of  $110,600,000.

The price of oil today is generally $57.41/bbl, below US profitability.  Wyoming oil is generally at $57.84/bbl.

Coal rose to $107.50 /T on December 31, 2025, up 0.80% from the previous day. Over the past month, coal has fallen 0.78%, and is down 13.72% compared to the same time last year.

January 6, 2026

Venezuela takeover has Wyoming oil industry bracing for market changes: Though Wyoming politicos regard Trump's actions as necessary, oil executives do not anticipate immediate windfall.

There's no part of this that will be a positive for the U.S. economy, or Wyoming's.  There's been too much oil on the market now for years, which has made Wyoming's petroleum economy unstable.  More oil will simply make it worse, much worse.   Sinking a bunch of infrastructure into a foreign country will make it worse.

For Wyoming, Is Venezuelan Oil The New Argentinian Beef?

This will be an economic problem, if not a disaster.

And here's another GOP bit of great economic news:

Wyoming spent $2.4M on hunger relief during shutdown emergency: Food insecurity is soaring in the state due to inflation and other factors, food relief experts say.

January 6, 2026

Venezuela and Greenland.

There's a lot of weird war related news circulating today.

Trump claims that the government of Venezuela is going to, well, here:

The U.S. doesn't need millions of gallons of oil to be sold to the US, and further the means by which Trump claims this will happen, he'll control the sales, is legally dubious.

Frankly, I don't believe that this will occur.  Much of what Trump has been saying about Venezuela is a lie and I suspect this is too.

If it isn't a lie, Wyomingites are going to get another dope slap from the demented fool they voted for.  It'll take the price of oil in the state for years.  It's at $46.37, below profitability, right now.

Of course, the goal would be to depress the price of oil, which consumers in most locations want depressed, even though we ought to be weaning ourselves off of oil.  But closer to home, this is another example of why Wyomingites are absolute idiots to vote for the GOP.

The Nobel Peace Prize winning Venezuelan woman who probably ought to be running the country is headed home.  Hopefully she takes over the government, although there's every sign that the Venezuelan socialist party will continue to do so and not much will really change.

Trump, who is demented, is now threatening Greenland.

If we lived in a sane time they'd be taking him out of the Oval Office in a straight jacket, but the Republican Party is now largely bat shit crazy so there's a real chance we'll do this, even while, for the first time, some Republican leaders are dismissing it.

Trump needs to be removed via the 25th Amendment, and like yesterday.

January 8, 2026

Oh we clearly need to add Venezuelan oil to this scenario.

January 9, 2026

Allowing power usage on this scale is simply insane.

Huge Cheyenne Data Center Grows To 2.7 Gigawatts — Nearly Triple State Power Use

January 10, 2026

$350 Million Transmission Project Links Wyoming, South Dakota Power Grids

Broncos Playoff Mania Drives Tickets To More Than $17,000

January 13, 2026

One year in, Trump's economy is a mess

He may have won on a promise to fix everything, but he's only made it worse.

January 19, 2026

Дональд Трамп — агент России, will be imposing tariffs on NATO members over his avarice for Greenland.

Дональд Трамп — агент России.

January 20, 2026

The stock market is collapsing and Treasury bonds are being sold off by the Danish retirement system due to the instability of the American budget.

If this becomes a general trend over the next thirty days the U.S. will go into a recession and the Dollar will cease to be the global reserve currency. 

All this sparked by the demented avarice of the dimwit in the Oval Office.

January 21, 2026

Trump added $2.25 trillion to the national debt in his first year back in (illegitimate) charge.

Laramie County approves construction of what could become the largest data center in US - WyoFile: Project Jade could eventually use the same amount of electricity as produced by 10 nuclear power plants.

January 26, 2026

Natrona County gas prices soar as Iran tensions, sanctions rock oil markets

January 27, 2026

Posted under fair use exception, there's no other good way to illustrate the dollar tanking like this.

Yeah, Trump sure is making us great again.

February 7, 2026

Trump screws American agriculture:

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

1.  Cattle ranchers have played an integral role in United States history, helping to forge an American identity and an American diet with beef as a key staple food.  Today, beef remains vital in the American diet, evidenced by the fact that the United States is the largest consumer of beef by volume, followed closely by China and Brazil.  And the United States ranks second in per capita beef consumption globally.

2.  But in 2022, the United States faced a widespread and severe drought, affecting beef-producing States, such as Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Kansas.  Texas and Kansas, for example, continue to face persistent drought conditions.  The effects of drought are particularly pronounced for livestock producers as many of their operations rely on precipitation to grow forage crops to feed their herds. 

3.  In addition to droughts, wildfires have affected the grasslands of the western United States, including America’s cattle-producing States.  Apart from the direct threat of burns and burn-associated deaths to cattle, cattle ranchers have had to adapt to indirect effects of wildfires, including changes in grazing patterns, loss of feed supplies, and suboptimal animal health for those cattle surviving the wildfires.

4.  Given the demand for beef, certain United States cattle farmers and ranchers supplement their herds, specifically their feedlot stocks, with cattle (calves) imported from Mexican ranchers.  But following new detections of the New World screwworm in Mexico in May 2025, the Department of Agriculture Animal Plant and Health Inspection Service, in conjunction with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), restricted the importation of live animal commodities from or transiting through Mexico, further limiting domestic feedlot stock supplies.

5.  These factors have combined to result in the United States cattle herd contracting to record lows.  As of July 2025, the United States cattle inventory totaled 94.2 million head, including 28.7 million beef cows.  This is one percent lower than the United States cattle inventory surveyed in July 2023, continuing the downward trend of cattle inventory in the United States.

6.  The abovementioned factors have also cumulatively resulted in higher beef prices for United States consumers, including for ground beef.  Since January 2021, ground beef prices have continued to rise, reaching an average of $6.69 per pound in December 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics — the highest since the Department of Labor started tracking beef prices in the 1980s.

7.  Despite the increased prices and the availability of more affordable protein alternatives, United States consumers’ demand for beef remains strong.  The United States imported a record high amount of beef in 2024, reaching 4.64 billion pounds, a more than 24 percent increase in beef imports since 2023.  Among the beef products the United States imports are lean trimmings, which are blended with fattier domestic trimmings to produce ground beef products, such as hamburgers.

8.  The Secretary of Agriculture has monitored the domestic supply of beef products subject to a tariff-rate quota (TRQ), including lean beef trimmings falling under Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) statistical reporting numbers 0201.30.5085 and 0202.30.5085, and noted the domestic supply of such products and substitutable products combined with the estimated imports of such products under the United States beef import TRQ.  The Secretary of Agriculture also advised on related domestic demand and pricing.

9.  As President of the United States, I have a responsibility to ensure that hard-working Americans can afford to feed themselves and their families.  After considering the information provided to me by the Secretary of Agriculture, among other relevant information, I am taking action to temporarily increase the quantity of in-quota imports of lean beef trimmings under the United States beef TRQ to increase the supply of ground beef for United States consumers.

10.  Section 404 of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (URAA) (Public Law 103-465, 108 Stat. 4809, 4959-61 (19 U.S.C. 3601)) authorizes the President, in certain circumstances, to modify TRQs on certain agricultural products.  In particular, section 404(b) of the URAA (19 U.S.C. 3601(b)) provides that where imports of an agricultural product are subject to a TRQ, and where the President determines and proclaims that the supply of the same or directly competitive or substitutable agricultural product will be inadequate, because of a natural disaster, disease, or major national market disruption, to meet domestic demand at reasonable prices, the President may temporarily increase the quantity of imports of the agricultural product that is subject to the in-quota rate of duty established under the TRQ.  And section 404(d)(3) of the URAA (19 U.S.C. 3601(d)(3)) provides that the President may allocate the in-quota quantity of a TRQ for any agricultural product among supplying countries or customs areas and may modify any allocation as determined appropriate by the President.

11.  After considering the information provided to me by the Secretary of Agriculture, among other relevant information, I find that imports of lean beef trimmings into the United States are currently subject to the United States TRQ for beef and determine that the supply of lean beef trimmings or directly competitive or substitutable agricultural products will be inadequate to meet domestic demand at reasonable prices because of a natural disaster and major national market disruption.  Accordingly, I determine that it is necessary and appropriate to temporarily increase the quantity of imports of lean beef trimmings subject to the in-quota rate of duty established under the beef TRQ.  In addition, I determine that it is appropriate to allocate all of the increased in-quota quantity of beef, as established by this proclamation, to Argentina.

12.  Section 604 of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended (19 U.S.C. 2483), authorizes the President to embody in the HTSUS the substance of statutes affecting import treatment, and actions thereunder, including the removal, modification, continuance, or imposition of any rate of duty or other import restriction.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of America, by the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, including section 404 of the URAA, section 604 of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended, and section 301 of title 3, United States Code, do hereby proclaim as follows:

(1)  For calendar year 2026, the aggregate in-quota quantity for certain products described in Additional U.S. Note 3 of Chapter 2 of the HTSUS will be increased by 80,000 metric tons (mt).  

(2)  The additional 80,000 mt described in clause (1) of this proclamation will apply only to lean beef trimmings classifiable under HTSUS statistical reporting numbers 0201.30.5085 and 0202.30.5085. 

(3)  The additional 80,000 mt described in clauses (1) and (2) of this proclamation will be administered on a first-come, first-served basis in four quarterly tranches.  The first tranche of 20,000 mt will open on February 13, 2026, and close on March 31, 2026.  The second tranche of 20,000 mt will open on April 1, 2026, and close on June 30, 2026.  The third tranche of 20,000 mt will open on July 1, 2026, and close on September 30, 2026.  The fourth tranche of 20,000 mt will open on October 1, 2026, and close on December 31, 2026.

(4)  The additional 80,000 mt described in clauses (1) and (2) of this proclamation is allocated in its entirety to Argentina.

(5)(a)  To establish the TRQ amendments described in this proclamation, the HTSUS is modified as set forth in the Annex to this proclamation.

(b)  The United States Trade Representative (Trade Representative), in consultation with CBP, shall determine whether any additional modifications to the HTSUS are necessary to effectuate this proclamation and shall make such modifications to the HTSUS through notice in the Federal Register, including any technical correction to the Annex to this proclamation.

(6)  The Secretary of Agriculture shall continue to monitor the domestic supply of lean beef trimmings, as the Secretary considers appropriate, and shall advise me on the domestic supply of lean beef trimmings or directly competitive or substitutable products, combined with the estimated imports of such products under the TRQ as adjusted by this proclamation, and how such availability relates to domestic demand at reasonable prices.  The Secretary of Agriculture, in consultation with the Trade Representative, shall inform me of any circumstances that, in the Secretary’s opinion, might indicate the need for further action and shall recommend to me any additional action I should take, if necessary.

(7)  Each executive department and agency (agency) is authorized to and shall take all appropriate measures within its authority to implement this proclamation.  The head of each agency may, consistent with applicable law, including section 301 of title 3, United States Code, redelegate any of these functions within their respective agency.

(8)  Any provision of previous proclamations and Executive Orders that is inconsistent with the actions taken in this proclamation is superseded to the extent of such inconsistency.  If any provision of this proclamation or the application of any provision to any individual or circumstance is held to be invalid, the remainder of this proclamation and the application of its provisions to any other individuals or circumstances shall not be affected.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this

sixth day of February, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-six, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and fiftieth.

                               DONALD J. TRUMP

Well that not only hurts Wyoming, it directly hurts me.

Well this will be fun at the next gathering "are you surprised that Trump. . . "

And something to remember:

Tom Lubnau: This Session, A Failed Budget Shuts Wyoming Down

Last edition:

Subsidiarity Economics 2025. The Times more or less locally, Part 13. Disassociation.

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