Chinese Market Access Holds Enormous Potential For US Producers, Peel Says

May 07, 2014

The lack of access into the Peoples’ Republic of China has been a major frustration to the U.S. cattle industry since the 2004 mad cow disease scare. There have been attempts by Washington over the years to bring the barriers down, but, so far, without success. Oklahoma State University Extension Livestock Market Economist Dr. Derrell Peel says that when the barriers do fall, the impact will be enormous.

“Chinese demand, in general, is growing for just about everything you can imagine as progress happens in that country. The U.S. doesn’t officially have trade access from a beef standpoint to the Chinese market yet, but we know that there’s U.S. beef getting into China already through Hong Kong, through Vietnam, through some other trans-shipment points. And, obviously, at some point, we’ll work out the political differences and get access to that market, but I do think there’s tremendous potential in the Chinese market for beef in particular.”

Peel says it’s simply a matter of numbers.

“I often remind producers of what I call the ‘Rule for Chinese Markets.’ And the Rule for Chinese Markets is very simple: 1.4 billion times any number is a big number. And I think that’s a good thing to keep in mind because the growing economic power in China suggests there’s going to be demand for just about anything you can think of.”

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Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.