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Feb. 27, 2025 |  By: Mark Moran - Public News Service

Iowa farmers push for country of origin beef labeling

ground beef

By Mark Moran - Public News Service

Iowa farmers and their advocates want Congress to approve a measure to require beef raised and produced in the United States to be labeled as such, saying it would be better for ranchers and consumers.

The U.S. used to require country-of-origin labeling but did away with it when Canada and Mexico complained the rule was unfair to imported products.

Barb Kalbach of Dexter, a fourth-generation farmer and member of the Campaign for Family Farms and the Environment, wants the Senate to approve the American Beef Labeling Act. She said it would allow those who raise beef and pork in the U.S. to be fairly compensated for their products and let shoppers know where their food was raised.

"I would like to know where my meat comes from," Kalbach asserted. "If I'm shopping and I'm looking at meat to buy and it said 'produced in the United States,' and so I know that it was grown and produced here and processed here, I may want to go ahead and purchase that meat just so I'm supporting my family farmers."

Previous Farm Bills required fruits and vegetables, seafood, meat and poultry, and some nuts to include country-of-origin labels. But in 2015, the World Trade Organization repealed it for beef and pork.

Kalbach noted while it is important for U.S. consumers to know where their products are coming from, she thinks country-of-origin labeling could have far-reaching financial implications for Iowa farmers, too.

"If people discover maybe they like the flavor of Iowa meat, they're excited to buy it, then that just helps you be able to maintain economic viability," Kalbach added.

Kalbach and other advocates for country-of-origin labeling hope it winds up in the next Farm Bill, which is being discussed in Washington, D.C.