Agricultural News
US Ag Exports Well-Positioned in 2014, Tonsor Says
Wed, 18 Jun 2014 16:02:11 CDT
Red meat exports are off to an exceptional start in 2014. K-State Livestock Market Economist Glynn Tonsor says the US Department of Agriculture has a released a report
from the Economic Research Service showing exports are strong for many US agricultural goods, not just red meat.
"The entire US agricultural commodity bucket, which is much broader than beef, is estimated to be up in value a full 31 percent for fiscal year 2014," Tonsor said.
"That's a huge increase in the value and its driven by some commodities with many more pounds, some commodities like beef a little bit change in the pounds and a notable change in value, couple that across the entire basket and that's very good for US ag, we are bringing more dollars home, if you like ," Tonsor said.
In looking at the rest of 2014, Tonsor remains bullish on US ag exports.
"I would see no reason, I give the disclaimer- - macro economic political stuff can create hiccups, but short of that I am very bullish on those export strength components maintaining strength throughout 2014 consistent with those ERS projections and its it important to recognize that shows up in the historically high fed cattle prices we're noting," he said.
Many countries are starting to see more disposable income available to their citizens and those citizens want to move up the food chain. They crave meat and they are willing to pay the extra dollars to celebrate a US meat like pork or beef product. Tonsor says that is the core reason for his optimism along with a growing world population.
"Incomes are expected to grow faster than what they have been in many countries, even through the first quarter of 2014 was a little slower, the rest of 2014 is expected to be a lot faster around the globe," Tonsor said.
Coupling those two nearly within 2014 I expect there to be more bidding over a fairly limited number of protein pounds around the world currently and this country has an advantage in producing a grain finished beef in this story is well-positioned to benefit from that.
Some of those pounds will leave the US and it will create upward pressure on retail prices domestically, so this will be a ongoing story. Strong domestic and international demand for US beef will be a good thing for producers.
The Beef Buzz is a regular feature heard on radio stations around the region on the Radio Oklahoma Network- but is also a regular audio feature found on this website as well. Click on the LISTEN BAR below for today's show- and check out our archives for older Beef Buzz shows covering the gamut of the beef cattle industry today.
WebReadyTM Powered by WireReady® NSI
Top Agricultural News
More Headlines...
