WHERE’S THE BEEF? Jennifer Todd calls on Miller to Protect Illinois Beef 

Beef. It’s what used to be for dinner.  Well not so much anymore. Consumers can’t afford to eat it, and, farmers can’t afford to raise beef cattle. 

Absentee Congresswoman Mary Miller is a cattle farmer, but, is she helping other farmers? Or, is she standing idly by while the Trump administration is raising tariffs, bringing in foreign beef and cutting efforts to stop the dreaded screwworm. Is she helping consumers? No, she has been silent on both counts. 

Mary Miller raises cattle. Specifically, Angus cattle. She’s done it for more than 40 years. She’s also a member of Congress on the House Agriculture Committee, including the Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry and Nutrition and Foreign Agriculture Subcommittees. 

Her opponent Jennifer Todd asks, “Is Mary Miller using her experience and position to fight for the people she represents? Why hasn’t she spoken out against the Trump tariffs and his efforts to bring foreign beef  (now recalled by the USDA) into the country? Why isn’t Mary Miller standing up for Illinois farmers?” 

Cattle producers are hurting. 

• They are rebuilding herds that are at their lowest level in roughly 75 years.

• They’re already facing high costs and a pressured market. Now the Trump administration is moving to allow an additional 661 million pounds of imported beef trimmings into the country.

• When more outside beef enters an already tight market, American producers feel that pressure. They can’t simply raise their prices to make up the difference.

Illinois residents can’t afford Miller’s inaction. 

• Families are paying an average of $7 a pound for ground beef.

• Ground beef is one of the staples families rely on when they’re trying to stretch a grocery budget: Burgers. Tacos. Meatloaf.

• When ground beef gets more expensive, families have fewer affordable options.

We have to protect American cattle producers without making beef even harder for families to afford. 

Jennifer Todd said, “We have to protect and strengthen American cattle producers while keeping beef affordable for families.  At the same time, we need to keep beef safe. I will demand country-of-origin labeling so consumers know where their beef comes from, and make sure imported beef meets U.S. food-safety standards. I won’t trade farmers for families, or families for farmers.”

Todd continued, “Mary Miller sits on the committee that oversees this. I haven’t heard her say a word. I’ve been talking with Democratic, Independent, and Republican cattle producers right here in this district. They’re telling me the market is in turmoil, and they want a seat at the table. So do I. But asking these questions from the outside isn’t enough. I need to get into that room.”

The 15th District of Illinois spans 35 counties and 17,000 square miles. That’s ONE-THIRD of the entire state. Mary Miller has been absent from each of those miles and from safeguarding farmers and consumers.