Checkoff Continues to Put Beef on International Plates
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Suggested Lead: We recently spoke with Keith Miller, chair of the U.S. Meat Export Federation, which manages foreign marketing programs for the beef checkoff, and a farmer-stockman from Great Bend, Kan. Miller says exports to Asia were up 48 percent the first week in November, providing big opportunities for U.S. beef.
Miller 1: “The Asian markets is a place where we have a lot of potential and a lot of opportunities. The biggest thing we have to do is let the message known that we have a very good quality, safe product and we have to break through some of the trade barriers that we have there. The opportunity that we have there is endless because those communities are wanting to improve their protein diets and beef is a huge part of that, and we just have to figure out ways of making that known to their consumers. They want our product because we do have that corn-fed beef product.” (35 seconds)
Miller says Russian import data for January through September 2010 shows that the United States has filled about 81 percent of its 21,700-metric-ton quota.
Miller 2: “The U.S. beef exports to Russia this year are up really significantly, in fact, we might meet quota. So it is a huge part of our market now and we look to try to keep expanding that market. A lot of the trade barriers are getting worked out and we’re moving a lot more product there. So it’s a volatile market that we need to keep our hands on every day, but it’s one that we definitely need to be in.” (27 seconds)
Mexico continues to be a market that shows growth potential and Miller says in the last three weeks, exports to Mexico have seen a large uptick.
Miller 3: “We see huge opportunities in the Mexican market because of the different things that have been going on down there – their economy is picking up, the value of the dollar has dropped to the peso – that’s making a huge difference. There’s a lot of factors to it. The one thing that we need to get resolved with Mexico is the trucking issue – and I think if we get it resolved, we’d even see more exports going there. So even though Mexico is our number one market now, it could be even be a lot stronger in the future.” (30 seconds)
So what do checkoff-funded foreign marketing efforts mean to producers? Miller says his $1 investment is putting money back in his pocket.
Miller 4: “For me as a producer, I look at consumption here in the U.S. that’s stagnant at best. If we’re going to expand our herds back to where we had them at one time, we’re going to have to go a different place with our product and the export market is the way we can go there, the numbers I currently have is every animal processed here in the U.S., beef animals, we’re receiving $159 of that from exports. And that’s huge. A lot of those products we’re shipping overseas are variety meats that we don’t utilize in this country to the fullest ability and that’s where we’re making huge end-runs on that dollar amount coming. So if we can continue to do that it will make a huge difference in the bottom line of all of our beef producers.” (53 seconds)
For information on other efforts being funded with your beef checkoff investment, visit MyBeefCheckoff.com.
The Beef Checkoff Program was established as part of the 1985 Farm Bill. The checkoff assesses $1 per head on the sale of live domestic and imported cattle, in addition to a comparable assessment on imported beef and beef products. States retain up to 50 cents on the dollar and forward the other 50 cents per head to the Cattlemen’s Beef Promotion and Research Board, which administers the national checkoff program, subject to USDA approval.
Funded by the Beef Checkoff.
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