10-13 IAN Where's the Beef

 Research Predicts U.S. Protein Production Will Decline Sharply in 2012. “Where’s the Beef?” report anticipates meat and poultry production declines of nearly five percent, impacting corn demand. U.S. meat and poultry production is headed for what researchers at the Rabobank International Food & Agribusiness Research and Advisory (FAR) group anticipate to be a “precipitous fall” by mid-2012. Beef and broiler supplies are all expected to tighten as production increasingly lags behind GDP growth. The group’s “Where’s the Beef?” report notes that drought in the U.S. is a major contributor to the production decline, but the report finds that global meat and poultry production is in the midst of a multi-year process of adjusting to higher and more volatile feed costs. Since the US is a large and significant exporter of meat protein, the decline will also affect world markets as well as demand for feed, notably for corn.

 Spokesperson David Holloway had this to say:  “In the beef sector we have seen an ongoing liquidation of the beef cow herd in the U.S. but started a few years ago and has accelerated during the last couple of years. That is really the driving force behind the beef declines.”