(The Epoch Times)—Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. urged American ranchers to boost their beef production while on stage at CattleCon on Feb. 5.
“I’m begging you to increase the size of the herds,” Kennedy said during a discussion with National Cattlemen’s Beef Association President Buck Wehrbein in front of a packed ballroom of cattlemen in Music City Center.
In 1972, the United States had 132 million head of cattle, and that total livestock inventory dropped to 92 million in 2025, the HHS secretary said during Thursday’s event.
“A lot of producers are now, because of fluctuations and the market’s uncertainty, slaughtering the breeding cows, and I’d ask you to stop doing that,” Kennedy added.
America’s cattle inventory has dropped due to years of drought and rising costs, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation.