USMEF Statement on Colombia Fully Reopening to U.S. Beef

Sep 26, 2024

With the Colombian government recently lifting its ban on U.S. beef originating from states in which H5N1 was detected in dairy cows, the Export Library for Colombia has been updated to reflect restored access for beef from 14 states.

U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) President and CEO Dan Halstrom issued the following statement:

On behalf of USMEF’s membership, I want to thank the U.S. government, and especially the teams at the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) and Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) involved in the effort to restore full access for U.S. beef shipments to Colombia. The USDA staff posted in Bogota, in particular, worked tirelessly to get these restrictions lifted. We are also grateful to Colombian importers and customers who remained loyal to U.S. beef during this difficult time and who voiced their concerns to the Colombian government about the interruption in trade.

It is also important to note that effective USDA engagement with other trading partners helped prevent similar trade barriers from affecting additional export markets.

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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.