For Immediate Release
Contact: R-CALF USA CEO Bill Bullard
Phone: 406-252-2516; r-calfusa@r-calfusa.com
WASHINGTON, Oct. 9, 2026 — R-CALF USA yesterday filed a prehearing brief with the U.S. International Trade Commission arguing that increased lamb-meat imports are a substantial cause of serious injury to America’s domestic sheep and lamb industry.
Submitted on behalf of its member sheep producers, the brief asks the Commission for an affirmative serious-injury determination in its Section 201 safeguard investigation. Such a finding would allow the proceeding to advance to consideration of relief. R-CALF USA alternatively requests a finding that increased imports threaten serious injury.
The filing combines government statistics, producer accounts, industry research and an August 2026 grower and feeder survey to describe how competition from imported meat reaches American ranches. R-CALF USA argues that lost domestic meat sales reduce packers’ purchases of slaughter-ready lambs, which in turn reduce feeders’ purchases from ranchers.
According to USDA data cited in the brief, lamb imports measured in carcass-weight equivalents increased 14.3 percent between 2021 and 2025. Although that series declined in 2025, imports resumed growth in January–July 2026, rising 5 percent over the same months a year earlier. Australia and New Zealand supplied 99.3 percent of imports in that USDA lamb-category series in 2025.
The brief contrasts those increases with a shrinking domestic production base. U.S. breeding-sheep inventory fell from 3.66 million head in January 2025 to 3.61 million in January 2026. Farms with at least 100 sheep and lambs declined approximately 63 percent between 1982 and 2022.
Producer accounts describe lost buyers, reduced feeding activity and higher transportation costs as marketing outlets disappeared. One feeding operation reported cutting purchases to approximately 15 percent of normal capacity after losing dependable marketing agreements. Another reported buying no feeder lambs in fall 2022 because meat from its previous crop remained unsold.
The survey supplied additional evidence from participating operations. Fifty-three of 111 respondents reported that buyers referenced imported lamb or import prices when reducing bids, prices or purchase volumes. Responding feeders and combined feeder-growers reported a 45.4 percent decline in annual lamb marketings between 2021 and 2025. Sixty-seven of 102 respondents reported postponed or cancelled sheep-enterprise investments totaling approximately $9.77 million.
The brief explains that the survey describes participating businesses and is not a statistically representative national sample.
R-CALF USA also acknowledges recent improvements in lamb prices, selected retail sales and processor profitability. It argues, however, that those gains coexist with a smaller breeding flock, diminished production capacity and weakened marketing relationships.
R-CALF USA CEO Bill Bullard drew a parallel between the sheep and cattle industries, noting that stronger cattle prices coexist with a smaller cow herd, fewer ranchers and diminished production capacity. “The sheep industry is the canary in the coal mine for America’s cattle producers,” Bullard said. “Higher prices alone don’t reverse the loss of ranchers and breeding herds. The cattle industry is following the same path, and we need to recognize the warning.”
The organization’s central argument is that the Commission must evaluate injury throughout the domestic production chain, including the growers and feeders whose animals supply American lamb processors.
The Commission’s injury hearing is scheduled for October 16 in Washington, D.C.
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Ranchers Cattlemen Action Legal Fund United Stockgrowers of America (R-CALF USA) is the largest producer-only lobbying and trade association representing U.S. cattle and sheep producers. It is a national, nonprofit organization dedicated to ensuring the continued profitability and viability of the U.S. cattle and sheep industries. Visit www.r-calfusa.com or call 406-252-2516 for more information.