Agricultural News
First Load of US Beef Arrives in China Today - But How Much will it Cost Producers to Supply China?
Fri, 30 Jun 2017 11:55:20 CDT
Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue and Craig Uden, president of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, are in China this week, to join US Ambassador to China Terry Branstad in welcoming the first shipment of US beef into the Asian country in over a decade. The load of beef is being airlifted into the nation's capital, Beijing today, where the ceremonial carving of the prime rib will take place. Oklahoma State University Extension Livestock Market Economist Dr. Derrell Peel spoke with Ron Hays, Radio Oklahoma Ag Network farm director, recently about the significance of this event.
"We've dealt now with the traceability requirements, the prohibition on certain technologies and so on," Peel said, explaining the process of negotiation that happened prior to the agreement eventually reached by the two nations. "All of that is part of the political process that established the rules of the game."
Going forward, though, as we begin to source beef for China's marketplace, Peel says there will be some adjustment to the way things will need to work along the supply chain. Until things are more streamlined, he says supplying China with US beef will be done on a carcass-by-carcass basis, which he admits, will be costly.
"We're going to qualify these animals on a per animal or per carcass basis," he said. "Yet, we're not likely to sell the entire carcass on all of those products to the Chinese. So, we're going to be incurring costs on a carcass basis and getting some additional value from some of those products as they go into that particular market. But, the rest of those costs will have to be covered in some other part of the market.
You can listen to the entire conversation between Hays and Dr. Peel about the process moving forward to supply China with US beef, on today's Beef Buzz.
The Beef Buzz is a regular feature heard on radio stations around the region on the Radio Oklahoma Network and is 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.
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