By J. Holly McCall | Editor-in-Chief
Good morning, Lookout readers:
Tennessee’s beef cattle farmers are steak-ing their claim in a controversy over President Donald Trump’s recent announcement he will import meat, tariff-free, in a pre-midterm election effort to lower the cost of ground beef.
“(The Trump administration is) looking at a short-term fix when the only answer is a long-term fix,” said Michael Curtis of East Tennessee’s Curtis Watkins Farms. “It’s going to drop our price, but our input costs are not dropping.”
In Tennessee, where beef cattle makes up 17% of agriculture commodities, the issue is a meaty one and prime for debate in state and local politics.
Charlie Hatcher, the Williamson County dairy farmer and former Tennessee commissioner of agriculture who Trump recently endorsed in the 5th Congressional District race, questioned Trump’s policies on social media.
But Hatcher’s Democratic opponent, Columbia Mayor Chaz Molder, accused Hatcher of “flip-flopping,” citing the instances in which Hatcher has said he agrees with Trump’s tariff policies.
In other news:
Endorsement alert: Former Vice-President Kamala Harris on Monday endorsed state Rep. Justin Pearson, the Democratic nominee for Tennessee’s 9th Congressional District. Pearson faces GOP state Sen. Brent Taylor, who has been endorsed by Trump.
Survey says: Speaking of the Molder-Hatcher 5th Congressional District race, a poll commissioned by the Molder campaign and conducted by IMPACT Research, the firm led by Obama pollster John Anzalone, shows Hatcher at 48% of the vote and Molder with 40% with fewer than 70 days left in the campaign.
THE LOOKOUT’S TOP STORY
Cattle stand in a field at Blue Grass Farms in Bethesda, Tennessee, on Aug. 27, 2026. (Photograph by John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout)
by Cassandra Stephenson
Tennessee cattle producers are preparing to sell their spring-born calves in a beef market roiled by President Donald Trump’s Aug. 21 announcement of a plan to import about 660 million pounds of beef tariff-free in an effort to ease high prices for consumers.
NEWS AND NOTES
Judge calls Trump mail ballot rule ‘substantively unconstitutional’ as court battle extends | Jacob Fischler, States Newsroom
A summer of recalls exposes holes in the nation’s food safety net | Anna Claire Vollers, Stateline
FEATURED IN THE LOOKOUT
A U.S. Marshal and FBI agent stand by a Memphis man pulled over by the Memphis Safe Task Force. As the task force presence approaches a year, some businesses are refusing service to agents, (Photo: John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout)
by Anita Wadhwani
More than 50 Memphis businesses have signed onto a public pledge to deny service to members of the Memphis Safe Task Force, citing a pattern of widespread intimidation by its agents that have kept workers and customers away.
FEATURED IN THE LOOKOUT
Guards at CoreCivic-operated Trousdale Turner Correction Facility will begin wearing body cameras on Sept. 1, 2026. (Photo: Tennessee Department of Corrections)
by Sam Stockard
Prison guards at privately-run Trousdale Turner Correctional Center will start wearing body cameras Tuesday as required by a new state law designed to improve safety at the embattled facility. Sen. Tom Hatcher, the legislative sponsor of the measure, said the aim is to cut down on incidents of assaults, false allegations against guards and contraband smuggling.
FEATURED IN THE LOOKOUT
The Tennessee Valley Authority’s Sequoyah Nuclear Plant in Chattanooga, one of three nuclear facilities the energy giant operates. Tennessee is under consideration for a U.S. Department of Energy program to increase the state’s nuclear capacity. (Photo: Facebook)
by Adam Friedman
Officials approved an application for the state’s first nuclear fusion site, as Tennessee leaders continue to advance their multi-year plan to make the state an epicenter of a new type of energy technology.
ICYMI
COMMENTARY
Tyrin Johnson was shot in the back. Memphis deserves the truth. | Rev. Earle Fisher
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