A delegation of 24 leaders and producers from beef, pork, corn and soybean organisations travelled to Japan last week to see the effect of US meat promotion at first hand, as the US Meat Export Federation (USMEF) showed how checkoff investments drive demand for US beef and pork in one of the country's most valuable export markets, Michigan Ag Today reports. The visit coincided with a milestone: Japan has passed US$100 billion in cumulative sales of US beef and pork over USMEF's 50-year history.

Among the soybean growers on the trip was Tom Griffiths, a north-east Indiana farmer and director of the United Soybean Board, who said Japanese consumers are eager for American-style cuts but need tailored cooking guidance. 'The Japanese people don't have grills on their back porch or their patio because they don't have a back porch and a patio,' he said. 'What we've been doing is training them the best ways to cook beef and pork the way we do it with what they have.'

A central part of USMEF's strategy is working with culinary students and professional chefs so they adapt preparation techniques and spread them through the industry — 'we're kind of changing their culture on how they eat beef and pork,' Griffiths said. The delegation toured retail meat displays, a beef-tongue processing facility, a Tokyo processing plant and a Wagyu auction, and met USMEF Japan staff and the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service for market briefings.

For grain producers, supporting meat exports is a direct way to add value to feed crops at home. 'That money's going to stay here in the United States for that infrastructure to raise that livestock,' Griffiths said. 'The tax dollars stay here, it's processed here, employing people here. It's a lot easier to export a soybean through beef and pork than it is to just export a soybean as far as dollars are concerned.'

The mission underlined how soybean, corn, beef and pork checkoff dollars are pooled to build overseas demand — and, for a Michigan and Indiana feed-grain grower, why a Tokyo retail case matters to prices back home.

Source: Michigan Ag Today