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Episode 875: Why Did The Cow Cross The Border?

By Jason Beaubien,
Sarah Gonzalez, Sarah Gonzalez
Published November 9, 2018 at 10:35 PM CST
Cattle crossing.
Jason Beaubien
/
NPR
Cattle crossing.
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Lately, we've been nerding out about cattle. Specifically, about this one particular set of facts. Every year, the United States exports 500 million pounds of beef to Mexico. But every year, the United States imports 500 million pounds of beef from Mexico.

We heard this, and thought: How is that possible? Why are we trotting all these cows back and forth across the border? We sent a reporter to the border to find out. The answers to those questions explain a lot about how trade works.

Music: "Nighttime Cruisin'"

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Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Corrected: June 4, 2019 at 11:00 PM CDT
In a previous Web version of this podcast, we incorrectly said imports and exports of beef totaled 500 million tons each. The actual amount for each category is 500 million pounds.
Jason Beaubien
Jason Beaubien is NPR's Global Health and Development Correspondent on the Science Desk.
See stories by Jason Beaubien
Sarah Gonzalez
Sarah Gonzalez is a host and reporter with Planet Money, NPR's award-winning podcast that finds creative, entertaining ways to make sense of the big, complicated forces that move our economy. She joined the team in April 2018.
Sarah Gonzalez
Sarah Gonzalez is the multimedia education reporter for WLRN's StateImpact Florida project. She comes from NPR in D.C. where she was a national desk reporter, web and show producer as an NPR Kroc Fellow. The San Diego native has worked as a reporter and producer for KPBS in San Diego and KALW in San Francisco, covering under-reported issues like youth violence, food insecurity and public education. Her work has been awarded an SPJ Sigma Delta Chi and regional Edward R. Murrow awards. She graduated from Mills College in 2009 with a bachelorâ
See stories by Sarah Gonzalez