Beef Continues to Post Eye-Popping Export Numbers
With your Southeast Regional Ag News, I am Haylie Shipp. This is the Ag Information Network.Eric Church may have sang about having a record year, but for beef exports, they are living it.
Red meat exports not only set value records for the month of May, but they also set volume records. Dan Halstrom, President and CEO of the U.S. Meat Export Federation says beef continues to put up eye-popping numbers…
“We exceeded $1 billion in value again in the month of May to an all-time record high. Also record breaking on a volume basis.“
He was quick to point out that it isn’t just one singular market that’s pushing beef exports higher…
“Of course, you know, we continue to see growth out of China. But we have other parts of the world like Indonesia, Philippines, the Caribbean region, places like Colombia, all showing significant growth. One of the things we're always focused on is market diversification. We're trying to create incremental growth in some newer markets. And, you know, we have a record month in May and that's with two of our larger markets, Japan and Korea, both being down slightly on volume. So, the strategy is working.”
When it comes to other exports, Halstrom noted that despite being well below last year's large totals, pork exports posted a 2022 high in the month of May. And American lamb exports also continued to gain momentum in May, led by growth in the Caribbean and Mexico.