03/01/06 Beef demand

Beef Demand 2005 Sometimes a slight setback when things are moving right along can be a good thing. I'm Jeff Keane; I'll be back in one minute to tell you why. I just read an article in the Western Livestock Reporter that had a headline reading "Beef Demand Drops Slightly in 2005". Now, I'd just as soon read good reports so I had to push myself to read past the headline. Cattlemen's Beef Board Chairman Al Svajgr reported that demand in 2005 decreased 3.6 percent compared to the record 8 percent increase in 2004. Well that's not so bad, so I read a little more and actually felt a lot better about the report. Beef Demand Index still remains 20 percent higher than 1998. The Beef Demand Index is calculated from formulas developed by Dr. Wayne Purcell of Virginia Tech University and monitored by agricultural economist, Dr. James Mintert at Kansas State University. The formulas factor per capita beef consumption numbers and figures from consumer retail beef spending as part of the equations. Even without an increase in beef demand in 2005 the Cattlemen's Beef Board more than doubled its goal to grow beef demand by 6 percent in the first five years of this decade. To me, this little setback in 2005 is like a good football team losing just before the playoffs; they realize they can lose and now we know we have to continue to work hard building beef demand. I'm Jeff Keane. Western Livestock Reporter 2/8/06