Keeping Beef on the Global Plate

BY LAURA HANDKE

Enhancing the profit opportunities for beef, pork and lamb, the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) employs a boots-on-the-ground, relationship building network around the world to help facilitate global market opportunities.

“Many of these markets are relationship-based, even markets we have been in for some time. In places like Japan and Korea, they still require that relationship, and our team is there to help bridge the gap between U.S. exporters doing the business and importers and trade in that market,” says USMEF Economist, Erin Borror. “In other places where it’s more of a developing market situation, places like Central America, South America, Southeast Asia and even more recently, South Africa, having our team there to help facilitate trade and letting exporters know where we see opportunities and which opportunities are most relevant is important.”

Borror says that even in China, where the beef business didn’t really take off until the Phase-One Agreement, USMEF had been in-country for many years, laying the foundation so that when the increase in access for beef opened up the organization was able to make those import-export connections to facilitate trade for U.S. beef. The organization serves many stakeholders in addition to beef, pork and lamb producers, to include corn and soybean producers, packers, traders and purveyors. USMEF is funded by the checkoff dollars allocated by those producer groups as well as membership dues and the USDA Farm Bill’s Market Access and Foreign Market Development programs.

“We can’t overlook the stakeholders in the sense of USDA’s Foreign Ag Service. They’re in these countries too, and our team works hand-in-hand with them. Our government partnership is very important,” she says.

COMMODITY VALUE-AD

The U.S. is the leading exporter of beef and pork because of the country’s natural resource advantages, namely the corn and soybean production that lays the foundation for the highly sought-after grain finished flavor profile.

“Through our livestock, we’re able to add value to the corn and soybeans that we produce in the U.S. through the export of beef and pork that other countries are not able to produce as efficiently or in the volumes needed to meet their consumer’s demand,” Borror says. “We export corn and soybeans to all of those countries, as well, so it’s really enabling them (foreign countries) to produce domestically and also being able to add value to corn and beans through the export of red meat. Our corn and beans really are the foundational natural advantage, and the reason why we’re such a powerhouse on the meat export side.”

With the COVID-19 induced supplychain complications felt through 2021, it’s easy to forget that we had record exports last year. Beef and pork exports in 2021 amassed $18.7 billion, a $3.3 billion or 22% increase over 2020. For beef, this growth was broad-based, accounting for a record $10.6 billion.

With the first quarter of 2022 behind us, Borror expects beef production to remain globally below 2019 levels, noting that while beef is more susceptible to economic challenges, tight supplies will help to drive price.

“Having a really tight global supply is potentially helpful because we’re going to have fewer consumers able to spend as much on our products. Tight supply will help to keep a floor on those prices and help us to hopefully still cover those sharply higher costs of production,” Borror says of the supply and demand driven beef marketplace. “It’s going to be interesting to watch how consumers react and how spending on food service versus eating at home shakes out here stateside, and, for me, that just makes exports that much more important. Having access to all of these countries, the consumers in these countries, is beneficial to U.S. producers being able to maximize the value of every animal produced.”