China opens up
Oklahoma ranching groups this week celebrated the return of American beef exports to China after a 13-year hiatus.
Oklahoma ranching groups this week celebrated the return of American beef exports to the world’s most populous nation after a 13-year hiatus.
“It has the potential to be a great thing for us down the road, just huge,” said Oklahoma Beef Council executive director Heather Buckmaster. “It’s the holy grail.”
The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Monday that Secretary Sonny Perdue will travel to China this week to formalize a trade agreement for beef. Shipments of American beef have been barred from China since the end of 2003.
“This is tremendous news for the American beef industry, the agriculture community and the American economy in general,” Perdue said in a news release. “We will once again have access to the enormous Chinese market, with a strong and growing middle class, which had been closed to our ranchers for a long, long time.”
China bought $2.5 billion in imported beef last year, according to the USDA, and the United States is the world’s largest beef producer, exporting $5.4 billion worth in 2016.
“It’s very important for consumers to understand this is a great opportunity for Oklahoma ranchers,” said Michael Kelsey, executive vice president of the Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association. “It allows us to go into a market we’ve been out of and compete.”
In China’s absence, American beef producers have sought out Pacific Rim nations, increasing exports to Japan and South Korea, according to Kelsey. They’ve “built an affinity for U.S. beef” in those nations, something producers anticipate accomplishing in China next.
“We’re just thrilled with this news,” Kelsey said.
Marketing the state’s beef to middle-class Chinese is a task that will fall, in part, on the Oklahoma Beef Council, which operates Oklahoma’s checkoff program, a dollar-per-cow fee that is used to promote American beef overseas.
“It’s just another market for us, and a huge market,” Buckmaster said.
Overseas sales allow beef producers to use the entire cow, she said. Beef tongue, for example, is rarely sold domestically but does well on the export market. Beef livers sell well in Egypt and beef rounds are popular in Mexico.
“We can really maximize the value of the animal,” Buckmaster said.
Kelsey said it is too soon to see specific effects on Oklahoma beef production. Ranchers in the state must first determine whether Chinese requirements for beef fit their business models. He doesn’t anticipate changes to beef prices in the U.S. anytime soon.
“It’s a great announcement,” he said. “It will have a big, positive for the beef cattle market in Oklahoma, as well as across the United States.”