Drovers TV: Corn Helps Boost Red Meat Exports
The U.S. Meat Export Federation says an updated study quantifies the value red meat exports deliver to U.S. corn producers. A 2016 study conducted by World Perspectives, Inc., determined that 2015 exports of red meat accounted for the use of 11.7 million tons of combined corn and dried distillers grains. In an updated study, WPI concluded that 2018 beef and pork exports will use a combined total of 14.9 million tons of corn and distillers grains. That amounts to an additional 460 million bushels of corn produced, an increase of 29 percent over the 2015 projections.
US Meat Export Federation president and CEO Dan Halstrom said “USMEF receives outstanding support from the feedgrain and oilseed industries because those producers understand that red meat exports boost the profitability of their largest customer – the U.S. livestock industry.”
Since 2015, one in every five bushels of added feed demand for corn is due to beef and pork exports, according to USMEF, and about 11 percent of the price of corn this year will be derived from red meat exports. The data suggest there would be a loss of $5.7 billion in corn value without red meat exports.
