Last week, the U.S. Meat Export Federation brought twenty-one representatives from the U.S. beef, pork, corn, and soy sectors on a trip to Japan to see the promotional work that is being done for U.S. red meat in overseas markets. The delegation, known as the USMEF Heartland Team, received market briefings from U.S. Embassy and USMEF staff, spoke with students at a culinary school, viewed U.S. product displays in retail outlets, visited a beef tongue processing facility and a wagyu farm, and witnessed a beef carcass auction at the Tokyo Meat Market. Christopher Pudenz, Iowa Farm Bureau Federation economics and research manager, and Mike Ver Steeg, Iowa Corn Growers Association District 1 director, were both part of that team. Ver Steeg said it’s important to make the effort to visit with overseas customers in person.
Tokyo is where the USMEF started its first international office, so U.S. red meat has been promoted over there for decades now. Pudenz said those promotional efforts have helped exports stay strong despite some current challenges.
U.S. red meat products also drive plenty of value back to the grain producers who raise the crops to provide food for the livestock. Ver Steeg said Japan is a very high-value market because consumers over there enjoy seeing “corn-fed” labels on their beef.
Pudenz added that Japanese consumers really enjoy U.S. agricultural products, so it is important that this trade relationship continues to be fostered.
For more information, visit usmef.org.
