12/07/05 Marketing panel 2005

Marketing Panel 2005 Panel discussions can be sources of interesting facts. I'm Jeff Keane; I'll be back to tell you about one discussion I just heard. The Washington Cattlemen's Annual Convention in early November featured a marketing panel that was well worth the time spent away from the social aspects of the convention. As producers, we understand the need for strong markets and marketing systems, but a lot of producers, myself included, don't devote enough time to understanding marketing strategies, research, or implementation. Rob Connell, with McDonald's, Tom Lipetzky from the Meat Export Federation, Rick Stott, Agribeef, Neil Kayser and Larry Olberding, WCA committee chairmen and producers sat on the panel that presented thoughts and insights on beef marketing. Some of the interesting comments I remember include the projection that every 15 years the world beef market is increased by an equivalent of one U.S. beef market, McDonalds uses one billion pounds of beef yearly and actually sold more beef this year than last, specialty cuts such as tongue and liver sell for $.50 to $.70 per pound in the U.S., but sell for over $10 per pound in foreign countries. Basically, marketing still comes down to supply and demand. We as a beef industry need to make sure we produce the right quality and quantity of supply while contributing to maintaining, researching, creating and discovery of demand. I'm Jeff Keane.