Keeping Consumers Informed
From the Publisher: Dennis Sun
In today’s meat industry, especially with beef, pork and lamb, keeping consumers’ trusting and informed is a full-time job. From raising pigs, sheep and cattle to picking from the selection at the grocery meat counter, the meat industry works extra hard to inform and keep consumers’ trust.
All of the major meats have checkoff programs to inform consumers on cuts of meat, how to cook them and to prove they are safe.
Lately there have been some recalls on hamburger due to Listeria monocytogenes. Rest assured, beef processers are reviewing the processing of hamburger, looking for better ways to combat outbreaks, offer lessons to help with awareness and ways to help restore consumer trust.
People always ask me when the price of beef will come down. I have to tell them prices are currently not high – they reflect what beef is worth at this time. And then I tell them why this is so.
I have to tell them the beef they are eating for dinner tonight is priced on a global market. This usually makes their eyes glaze over. I start by telling them around 630,000 head of cattle are processed weekly for human consumption. From the time a calf is born to the time it is processed, it may take around 18 to 20 months.
People around the world realize the U.S. has the best and safest beef in the world, and they want to enjoy eating it. There are many new markets opening up around the world for American beef.
JBS, the world’s largest meat producer, has just announced they are building three poultry plants as well as two beef plants and one pork plant in Nigeria.
They said, “Investing in Africa would give JBS, which owns processing facilities spanning from Colorado to New Zealand, an opportunity to diversify away from more mature markets, including the U.S.”
The economy of Nigeria, which has a population larger than Brazil, is expected to more than double by 2050.
We know the quality of beef in Nigeria is not comparable to that of the U.S., but at some point, they will want U.S. beef as well.
The U.S. is expected to export 2.95 billion pounds of beef this year, which is down three percent from a year ago. This export volume represents 11 percent of our U.S beef production, which is down from 12.5 percent in 2022, the year of record beef exports.
Exports are projected to be down eight percent next year, which is the lowest since 2016. Our strong dollar has a lot to do with export numbers.
To meet the high demand for hamburger, the U.S. is importing a lot of foreign beef, mainly from Mexico. The U.S. has closed down the border because they found an infected cow with New World screwworm from southern Mexico. This will affect the price of hamburger somewhat.
Livestock producers should take a couple days off and come to Casper for the 2024 Wyoming Stock Growers Association’s Winter Roundup and Tradeshow at the Ramkota Hotel and Conference Center on Dec. 9-11.
There will be a lot of information on what to do in the aftermath of all of the wildfires, livestock health and production, the latest from Washington, D.C. and much more.
