Agricultural News
Oklahoma and Other State Beef Councils Increase Their Financial Commitment to USMEF- and It Pays Dividends
Tue, 29 Dec 2015 07:58:23 CST
From earlier this fall, this Beef Buzz is a "Best of" edition featuring the comments of USMEF President Phil Seng. Phil Seng told Radio Oklahoma Ag Network Farm Director Ron Hays that he is appreciative of the extra support that states like Oklahoma have provided the US Meat Export Federation in helping fund special projects to sell more beef overseas. Seng contends that international markets are a good investment with 95 percent of the world's consumers living outside the United States- and obviously the directors of the Oklahoma Beef Council and cattle producers in several other states agree.
"The international market place presents tremendous potential," Seng said. "All of these growing middle classes want to evolve from the cereals to the proteins."
By 2030, 60 percent of the world's middle class will be located in Asia. The U.S. is currently negotiating the terms of the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement. Seng said those 12 countries represent 70 percent of the world's purchases of meat products and that demand will grow as their economies improve.
In building relationships with international customers, Seng said it's important to begin the work early on. A prime example can be found in Japan. Seng began as the country director for USMEF in Japan in the 1980's. Since that time, Japan's loyalty to U.S. meat products has changed a great deal. Japan was primarily a commodity market. Seng said today there is a lot of differentiation of product and many states and packers have their own branded products in that market.
Today Japan imports about $2 million dollars' worth of beef and $2 million dollars of pork annually from the U.S. While the population of Japan is declining, Seng is optimistic for Japan's future growth with an increasing number of tourists. Japan will host the Olympics in 2020 and he believes that's a great opportunity for the food service markets.
Seng says that the additional dollars earmarked by state beef councils in Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas and Nebraska have helped go the extra mile in building those marketing relationships which help sell US beef. You can hear his explanation by clicking or tapping on the LISTEN BAR below to listen to today's Beef Buzz.
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...
