Meat on the move

Tyson Foods Inc. bucks trend, ships beef to China.

Tyson Foods Inc. has sent a shipment of beef to China, making it one of the first meat companies in the nation to send U.S. beef to the country in roughly 13 years. Analysts estimated that the recent U. S. beef trade agreement with China would go into effect as early as late July or early August, but initial signs from U.S.based meatpackers have shown swifter results.

A Tyson spokesman told the Omaha World-Herald on Wednesday that the company’s plant in Lexington, Neb., made the shipment last week, but didn’t provide details on shipment size, destination, or future shipment plans to China.

The Lexington location is one of the few plants approved by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for preparing shipments to China, according to Caroline Ahn, manager of external communications for Tyson.

“[ Tyson is] currently exporting product to The People’s Republic of China,” Ahn said in an email.

The Springdale- based company is the second meatpacker with operations in Nebraska — a state where cows outnumber people 4-to-1 — to announce that it’s made a U.S.

beef shipment to China since the trade embargo was lifted. Greater Omaha Packing Co Inc. shipped beef to China first by plane on June 14, just two days after Washington officials finalized U.S. beef export requirements.

China has been firmly against allowing U.S. beef inside its borders since the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s testing program for mad cow disease was compromised by a single Canadian cow nearly 14 years ago.

December 2003, the USDA announced that a Canadian Holstein that was slaughtered in Moses Lake, Wash., tested positive for mad cow disease.

The Holstein appeared unable to walk, however three

workers said it had walked fine before being sent to slaughter.

Congressional hearings ensued and, shortly after, more than 100 countries banned U.S. beef from entering their borders, stripping away 98 percent of the $3 billion international beef market overnight.

Over the years more countries have opened their borders to U.S. beef, but China’s held out the longest — until trade negotiations began.

In April, President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping negotiated their international trade relationships during the World Trade Summit.

“Beef was on the table for those discussions,” said Travis Justice, chief economist of the Arkansas Farm Bureau.

China’s booming upper middle class population has been a positive sign for U.S. meat companies, Justice said.

More than one-third of China’s population, or roughly 440 million people, accounts for its middle class — a market about 37 percent larger than the total U.S.

“That’s very significant,” Justice said.

The absence of U.S. beef has allowed other beef exporters to dominate China’s market, primarily Brazil and

Australia, he said.

The market potential is enough for the U.S. meat industry to be excited.

“It will be a slow growth, but at least it’s growth and it represents a new market for our products,” Justice said. “It’s a real exciting time because of that huge potential.”