A White House plan to bring in a huge wave of foreign beef is bad news for US cattle ranchers, and it may not lower grocery prices either.

• The plan would import over 750 million pounds of beef in 90 days, a more than 50% jump over normal monthly imports.
• Cattle prices fell right after the announcement, just as ranchers had started making money again — 63 farms a day are already going under.
• Four companies control 85% of US beef, two of them Brazilian, so higher store prices rarely reach the farmer.
• Argentina is the first source, and China recently rejected Argentine beef over a banned antibiotic that lingers in the meat.
• The US has no mandatory country-of-origin labeling on beef, so shoppers won't know what they're buying; a bipartisan bill from Senator Thune would change that.

Outlook: An executive order spelling out the import terms is expected within weeks, and the beef is likely to end up in ground meat with no label showing where it came from.