ICE sweeps disrupt beef production as cattle groups warn of higher prices

September 26, 2026 3oliver

Cattle industry groups in Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas warned Thursday that sweeping Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in southwest Kansas are delaying beef shipments and could push record retail prices even higher.

The Kansas Livestock Association, Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association, and Texas Cattle Feeders Association said in a joint statement that thousands of fed cattle bound for slaughter had been sidelined, producing “millions of dollars in lost revenue and additional costs.”

The groups reported workforce disruptions at feedyards, dairies, processors, feed and grain firms, and transportation hubs, and said the harm would linger for days and weeks after the raids conclude.

Federal agents swept through Dodge City, Garden City, and Liberal earlier this week.

The three southwest Kansas towns anchor a region that produces about 22% of the U.S. grain-fed beef supply, according to data from the Kansas Livestock Association and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

National Beef Packing Co., one of the country’s largest processors, adjusted shift schedules at its Liberal plant.

Cargill, which also operates in the region, said it complies with the law; Tyson Foods did not respond to inquiries regarding production.

The heightened enforcement, according to Drovers, follows an Aug. 31 workplace stabbing at a Kansas dairy near Deerfield that left one worker dead.

The Honduran citizen charged with voluntary manslaughter, Erlin Lagos-Gonzales, received a deportation order in July 2025 that federal authorities never carried out.

National Beef Vice President of Communications Toby Cook said the company is providing “legally appropriate cooperation” to the Department of Homeland Security.

Major U.S. meatpackers use E-Verify, the federal work-authorization database, but a June 2025 raid at an Omaha plant enrolled in the system resulted in roughly 70 arrests for using stolen identities, a fraud pattern the database is not designed to detect.

Kansas Republican Sens. Roger Marshall and Jerry Moran separately called on ICE to coordinate with local law enforcement.

Marshall said federal agents did not give sheriffs “advance notice or the level of cooperation we would expect.”

Moran said in a post cited by Agri-Pulse that Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin assured him the warrants target individuals charged with criminal activity.

The dispute lands at a politically sensitive moment for President Donald Trump.

Ground beef averaged a record $6.92 per pound in August, Bureau of Labor Statistics data show.

In August, Trump’s administration suspended tariffs on up to 300,000 metric tons, or roughly 660 million pounds, of imported ground beef to lower prices; the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association criticized the move as harmful to domestic ranchers.

The three associations urged federal officials to enforce the law lawfully and transparently, respect due process, and communicate with employers and affected communities, while acknowledging federal agencies’ responsibility to enforce immigration law.