The Beef Checkoff Program’s Export Growth Committee met Friday, Feb. 2 at the Cattle Industry Convention in Phoenix. This committee helps establish industry priorities for international marketing and provides direction to checkoff contractors, including the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF), in order to build global demand and increase the value of beef exports.
USMEF President and CEO Dan Halstrom gave the committee a summary of the very strong U.S. beef export results achieved in 2017. He noted that once December data is available, the United States will likely set a new beef export value record of $7.2 to $7.3 billion. Export value per head of fed slaughter exceeded $282, up 9 percent from the 2016 average, with much of this growth driven by top markets Japan, South Korea, Mexico and Hong Kong.
Halstrom also cited some of the factors supporting an upward trend in beef trade, including steady expansion of global protein demand, solid economic growth, increasing U.S. beef production and the recent strengthening of key currencies versus the U.S. dollar.