Mexico Open for US Bison
Mexico has formally opened its market to import US bison meat. The decision a long time in the making.
Dave Carter is Executive Director of the National Bison Association headquartered in Westminster. He tells Colorado Ag Today they asked the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service to start working on bison exports in 2018.
Carter:” Went through a long process to develop the protocols and procedures and finally got the call that Mexico had finally signed off on what our USDA had proposed. That was indeed some very welcome news for our producers. We like our friends in other sectors of the livestock business are struggling to get through the COVID-19 pandemic but, to have some good news come along was very welcome.”
Carter says Mexico may be a very important market for US bison producers.
Carter:” Customers in Mexico tend to favor the cuts of meat that US customers don’t buy. It really helps us balance that carcass utilization and can be very important to help us grow the bison business.”
A few bison marketers traveled to Mexico with a US trade delegation last year. Those conversations were instrumental in the agreement to allow US bison to be sold to Mexico. Carter says negotiations are likely already underway.
