INDUSTRY NEWS

A group of U.S. beef producers recently had the opportunity to take a seven-day trip to Japan and Taiwan to learn about the meat markets in Asia and see what the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) has been doing to promote U.S. beef. 

Total federally inspected beef production was 12.1 billion pounds in the first 24 weeks of 2019, up just 0.7% from the same period last year. That is an average production of 502.4 million pounds per week – an amazing number if you think about it. Given that there is little storage of beef beyond pipeline supplies, it means that roughly 500 million pounds of a wide range of beef products are moving through a vast array of retail grocery, restaurant, food service and export markets every week. It is an enormous and complex set of markets.

The global economy has become more varied and complex in the last 50 years. The world has seen many events, including war, famine, and political and cultural changes that have affected its power structure.

During the 1970s and 1980s, cattle feeding moved out of the Corn Belt to the High Plains due to better feed conversion and performance of cattle in a semiarid climate.

It is hard to wrap your arms around 1.4 billion people, or 18% of the world’s population, but after visiting Beijing, China, last year I have a better idea of the beef export opportunities in this country.

No matter where cattle are being grown, each state wrestles its own challenges with drought, rain, flood and blizzards. However, on the New Mexico border, ranchers are being overtaken by a wave that has nothing to do with the weather.