In this episode of Beef Buzz, Senior Farm and Ranch Broadcaster Ron Hays is featuring Farm Director KC Sheperd’s interview with the CEO of the United States Meat Export Federation, Dan Halstrom, about U.S. beef exports and demand.
Halstrom emphasized that every country has a different perspective when it comes to the value of U.S. beef exports, which works to the U.S. cattle industry’s advantage. One important thing to note about international trade, Halstrom said, is that other countries value variety meats highly, whereas in America some of those cuts are less popular.
“The example I use is that our center of the plate, which centers heavily around middle meats, tenders, and ribeyes- that is not necessarily the case in a lot of these countries,” Halstrom said. “In Egypt, the center of the plate is beef liver. In a place like Peru, beef tripe is the center of the plate.”
Halstrom said the demand for U.S. beef from international countries is a testament to the high-quality product produced by American ranchers.
“The key to maximizing the cutout and the value for the U.S. beef industry and the whole supply chain is selling the entire carcass,” Halstrom said.
Although prices rise with lower cattle numbers in the U.S., Halstrom said there is still high international demand for U.S. beef.
“Demand has been good for several years now, and hopefully we can continue that run on the beef side,” Halstrom said.
The Beef Buzz is a regular feature heard on radio stations around the region on the Radio Oklahoma Ag Network and is a regular audio feature found on this website as well. Click on the LISTEN BAR for today’s show and check out our archives for older Beef Buzz shows covering the gamut of the beef cattle industry today.
