World Meat Congress Speakers to Include USDA Secretary, Argentine Ag Minister

In the attached audio report, U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) CEO Emeritus Philip Seng notes that an impressive speaker lineup is taking shape for the 22nd World Meat Congress (WMC), which is set for May 31-June 1 in Dallas. The WMC is the premier gathering of global red meat industry leaders. It is a biennial event, with the 2018 theme being “Trusting in Trade.” This year’s WMC, the first held in the United States in more than 20 years, is hosted by USMEF and the International Meat Secretariat.

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue will deliver the opening keynote presentation, focusing on the challenges of feeding a growing world as well as trade policy initiatives undertaken by the Trump administration. He will be followed by Argentine Agriculture Minister Luis Miguel Etchevehere (pronounced ETCH-A-VER-ER-AY), who will discuss Argentina’s recent transition to a pro-trade economic philosophy for its agricultural sector.

Featured speakers also include Long Wan, executive director, chairman and chief executive officer of WH Group. Formerly known as Shuanghui International, WH Group is the largest pork company in the world. It is the majority shareholder in Shuanghui Development, China’s largest meat processor, and owner of Smithfield Foods.

Also addressing the WMC will be FutureCast President and best-selling author Jeff Fromm. He is co-author of three books: Marketing to Millennials, Millennials with Kids and Marketing to Gen Z. Fromm is also a contributing writer at Forbes.com.

TRANSCRIPT:

Joe Schuele: In this U.S. Meat Export Federation report, CEO Emeritus Philip Seng reports on the speaker lineup for the upcoming World Meat Congress, which kicks off May 31 in Dallas. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Purdie will deliver the keynote address and he’ll be followed by Argentina’s agriculture minister Luis Miguel Etchevehere.

Philip Seng: We’re very pleased to have Secretary Purdue talking about how we’re going to feed the world in the year 2050, some of those challenges when it comes to climate and environment. That in addition to some of the initiatives on trade policy from the administration is going to make for a very popular opening session. Following Secretary Purdie will be Minister Etchevehere from Argentina. Argentina for years had a very protectionist agenda, really limited exports, they taxed their exports, beef for example, a well as their grain products. Now they’ve opened up again and their economy is doing much, much better. I think Etchevehere will talk about the initiatives of Argentina when it comes to production, but also how they are aggressively going after trade agreements. They are part of MERKESO, which is a very strong block of five nations in South America, so it should be a very interesting session as well.

Joe Schuele: Other featured speakers include WH Group CEO Long Wan and FutureCast President and best-selling author Jeff Fromm.

Dan Halstrom: Wan of course is chairman of the WH Group, WH Holdings. It’s one of the largest companies in China in agriculture, especially in pork production. Wan has been a strong champion of international trade. He has holdings not only in China but also in the United States, Mexico and Europe, so he understands dealing as a global company in this new world environment, and how do you deal in this kind of atmosphere. I think this is what he is going to bring us. Jeff is the president of FutureCast. He is also a contributing writer to Forbes Magazine. He’s written books in the areas of millennials and Generation Z. If you’re interested in marketing, if you’re interested in tomorrow’s consumer, you need to be in Dallas, Texas.

Joe Schuele: For more information, go to 2018wmc.com. For the U.S. Meat Export Federation, I’m Joe Schuele.