Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Falling Barriers Aid Cattle Market

As trade barriers in foreign markets continue to erode, increasingly affluent consumers in those markets are beginning to better appreciate a familiar U.S. food -- beef.

At the same time, beef producers in Clark County and around the country are discovering the impact a successful beef effort can have on the value of their animals.

Beef exports are increasing all over the world, according to Sharla Stewart, director of beef promotions of the the Arkansas Beef Council. That's a function both of U.S. efforts to loosen foreign beef import restrictions and hard-hitting promotions that are helping to introduce consumers elsewhere to the benefits of U.S. beef.

These promotions are funded, in part, by Clark County beef producers and other beef producers across the country through their beef checkoff program.

"We're working aggressively worldwide to demonstrate that U.S. beef is a good value," say Stewart. "Through the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF), a wide variety of education and promotion campaigns are being conducted that give us a chance to extend our marketing opportunities."

Programs are now being conducted by USMEF in about 50 foreign countries, according to USMEF president and CEO Philip Seng. USMEF hopes to increase beef exports this year by 21 percent over 1996, with special emphasis on countries where consumers are willing and better able to purchase the products.

"Barring some unforeseen catastrophe, we expect U.S. beef sales to increase in all major export markets," says Seng. "It won't be easy, but we think this is a realistic goal for us to work for."

Japan is a country where trade barriers are loosening and beef exports are increasing, says Stewart. Import duties for beef in Japan will come down from the current 50 percent to 44.3 percent this year. That country is already the largest importer of U.S. beef, taking in more than half of all the beef and beef variety meats exported by this country last year.

"Our industry has seen a three-fold increase in beef exports since the beef checkoff was instituted in 1986, and a five-fold increase over the past 20 years," says Stewart. "With 1996 beef exports totalling more than $3 billion, it's obvious that these markets are critical to the bottom line for U.S. beef producers."

Statistics from the USMEF support that claim. Exports currently account for almost 13 percent of the wholesale value of total U.S. beef production, up from only 4.5 percent in 1987. Furthermore, a recent study demonstrated that if there had been no beef exports in 1996, the total market value of a 500 pound steer calf would have been $99.70 less, and the value of a fed steer would have been $110.06 less.