Senator Sheehy hosted a Common Ground Summit in partnership with the Livestock Marketing Association to address current challenges facing American agriculture, recent developments in the beef industry, and strategies to ensure American producers remain central to agricultural policy.
Following the event, Sheehy emphasized the importance of supporting domestic ranchers while protecting national food security.
“Lowering input costs for ranchers and prioritizing profitability for American producers are key priorities. Montana ranchers have made clear they will oppose any plan to flood the American market with foreign beef,” Sheehy said.
The senator criticized the dominance of foreign-owned meat packers, advocating for policies that increase American alternatives, strengthen food security, and place ranchers at the center of livestock policy.
“Empowering hardworking ranchers who feed America and lowering prices for American families at the grocery store are not mutually exclusive; both can be accomplished by lowering input costs and providing a reliable, pro-growth environment for producers so ranchers can grow their operation, capture more of the value they create, and feed the nation with affordable, healthy, high-quality beef,” Sheehy said.
He also framed food security as a matter of national security. “We all talk about AI, data centers, and processing chips — let’s talk about feeding our nation. That has been America’s superpower for generations, and I’m grateful to President Trump and his team for fighting to protect it and keep American ag strong,” Sheehy said.
The summit drew a broad bipartisan group of lawmakers, including Senators Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), and Representatives Barry Moore (R-Ala.), Dave Taylor (R-Ohio), Adam Gray (D-Calif.), and Harriet Hageman (R-Wyo.), alongside Secretary Rollins.
The gathering highlighted the ongoing legislative focus on strengthening the American beef industry, supporting domestic ranchers, and ensuring affordable, high-quality food for U.S. families.