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Global Growth Committee Weighs Beef Export Challenges, Opportunities in Year Ahead

Published: Feb 09, 2015

USMEF Chair Leann Saunders reports on 2014 beef export results

The beef industry’s Global Growth Committee met Feb. 6 at the Cattle Industry Annual Convention in San Antonio. As a contractor to the Beef Checkoff Program, USMEF provided several presentations to the committee.

USMEF Chair Leann Saunders gave a summary of the just-released 2014 export results for U.S. beef. She noted that U.S. exports set a new value record of $7.13 billion (up 16 percent from 2013) and increased 2 percent in value to 1.2 million metric tons. Export value per head of fed slaughter soared to a new record of $300.36.

USMEF President and CEO Philip Seng provided a breakdown of major competitors’ recent trade agreements – including the Japan-Australia Economic Partnership Agreement and South Korea’s new free trade agreements with Australia and Canada. Seng explained that lower tariffs offered under these agreements have further intensified competition in these key Asian markets.

Committee members were also briefed on U.S. beef promotional activities and marketing strategies in major international markets, including Japan, Mexico, Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, the Middle East, Europe and Central and South America. A new initiative in Sub-Saharan Africa was also discussed.

Chairman Dave Edmiston, a third-generation rancher from Brady, Texas, and member of the Cattlemen’s Beef Board, addresses the Global Growth Committee

The presentations generated a number of questions from committee members, who asked about the impact of traceability on access to international markets, the state of beef access negotiations between the United States and China and whether reestablishment of diplomatic relations will have any impact on U.S. beef exports to Cuba.

Committee members then reviewed strategic initiatives under the Beef Industry Long Range Plan, ranking them based on the degree to which they support the plan and the committee’s mission statement. Identified as “most important” priorities were:

  • Increase access to export markets; address production and processing technology issues and challenges.
  • Leverage the brand equity of the U.S. beef industry to promote U.S. beef in foreign markets.

Educating beef cattle producers on the significance of export markets was also identified as an important priority.

To close the meeting, committee members participated in a tasting exercise in which they compared grass-fed beef chuck roll with grain-fed chuck roll, with both prepared in a popular Asian cooking style.