Video Transcript: Twin Brook Camillus Farm
Nate Polite: Twin Brook Camillus Farm is one of many family-owned and operated farms in Central New York. It’s been in the Kennedy family for generations.
Craig Kennedy: This was purchased by my grandfather… great grandfather actually in 1902 for $3,000.
Polite: Following President Trump’s announcement that the U.S. would be importing beef from Argentina, Kennedy was one of many farmers that were skeptical about those prospects.
Kennedy: When you’re bringing in foreign beef like that. It has a tendency to make the local market kind of back off. There’s a lot of ‘wait and see.’
Polite: The White House defended Trump’s plans, citing high prices as a concern for consumers.
Karoline Leavitt: The President loves our ranchers and he also loves American consumers, and he wants to do right by both. So the immediate solution to the problem of the rising cost of beef, the President wants to bring that down, is we have to increase our supply.
Polite: But Kennedy believes that most customers already have their hearts set on what kind of beef they’re going to buy.
Kennedy: We have kind of a niche market, we’re doing grass-finished beef. We don’t use any corn or soy beans… People are now much more health-conscious than they have been before.
Polite: Beef from Argentina is grass fed, but much of it is grain finished. Kennedy expects most of the competition from Argentina to come for larger-scale factory farms, not small ones like Twin Brook. In Camillus, Nate Polite, NCC News.
CAMILLUS, N.Y. (NCC News) — On Oct. 19, President Donald Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that the United States may increase beef imports from Argentina. This caused uproar among cattle farmers across the country, including the American Cattleman’s Beef Association.
Twin Brook Camillus Farm is one of many family-owned and operated farms in Central New York. It has been in the Kennedy family for generations.
“This was purchased by my [great] grandfather… in 1902 for $3,000 cash,” Twin Brook owner Craig Kennedy said.
Following Trump’s proposal, Kennedy was among the many farmers that were skeptical about importing more foreign beef.
“When you’re bringing in foreign beef like that,” Kennedy said. “It has a tendency to make the local market kind of back off. There’s a lot of ‘wait and see.'”
The White House stands by Trump’s plans, saying that its biggest priority now is helping consumers.
“The President loves our ranchers and he also loves American consumers, and he wants to do right by both,” Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters. “So the immediate solution to the problem of the rising cost of beef, the President wants to bring that down, is we have to increase our supply.”
Kennedy doesn’t agree with that suggestion, however. He believes that most customers are already set on what kind of beef they buy, grass- or corn-fed.
Beef from Twin Brook is grass-fed and finished, much like other small-time farms. Beef from industrial factory farms is often fed with corn and grain, often considered to be less healthy. Beef in Argentina is grass-fed, but much of it is grain-finished, missing the mark of purity that farms like Twin Brook pride themselves on.
“We have kind of a niche market,” Kennedy said. “We’re doing grass-finished beef. We don’t use any corn or soy beans. People are now much more health-conscious than they have been before.”
It is for this reason that Kennedy expects most of the competition from Argentina to hit larger farms, which should be able to take the hit.