China Agreement Has Huge Potential For U.S. Beef

The recent agreement allowing U.S. beef into China gives U.S. agriculture access to one of the fastest growing beef markets in the world.  AFBF economist Katelyn McCullock said China has developed a strong appetite for beef, creating market potential for U.S. ranchers.

“We’ve seen imports of beef rise in China in 2003, the last time the U.S. was in that market.  It was about $70 million, to over $2.5 billion worth of beef imported last year to China.  And so, the market potential is such that this could be a very big deal.”

McCullock says the market has changed since the U.S. last exported beef to China, and that may provide a higher export value potential for U.S. farmers and ranchers.

“They use to import a lot more variety meats.  And we’ve see that change over to heavier demand in muscle meats.  Muscle meats tend to be higher value and so there’s potential there to have to only more exports but also higher value exports.”

While the announcement will offer a chance to increase demand for U.S. beef, McCullock cautions that developing the market will take time.

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