Japanese beef importers made a recent visit to the U.S. to learn more about the beef supply chain. About a dozen buyers from the four major beef importing companies in Japan traveled to Colorado, Kansas and Idaho. Jay Theiler of Agri Beef, the U.S. Meat Export Federation chair-elect, was one of the hosts.
“We had the great opportunity to show them all the steps in the beef supply chain, starting with going to a ranch operation, then Agri Beef’s feedyard out in Parma, Idaho,” Theiler says. “We took them to the producer owned plant, True West Beef in Jerome, Idaho. They really got to see a good overview of all the steps in our U.S. beef supply chain, and see the focus that we put on quality.”
The True West beef plant is one of the newest plants in the U.S., opening in June 2023.
“It’s a good example of a new facility, and it’s a plant that is also partially owned by producers here in the Northwest,” Theiler explains. “That’s a little bit different for the Japanese to see a model different than all the other plants in the United States.”
Because there is not enough beef in Japan for all domestic consumption, they rely on trading partners.
“With the U.S., it’s been such a long relationship that they really do appreciate the quality that we produce here,” Theiler says. “The Japanese markets are critical to Agri Beef. There’s a lot of items that go over there that are not necessarily consumed here, domestically. And if you look at it as an industry, exports in total are around $415 a head, but $75 of that actually comes from Japan. It’s actually a critical market. It’s the number one volume market, and second only to South Korea and the value.”
The team met in Denver and received an overview from USMEF then visiting Idaho for the tour. They also met with representatives from the Idaho Beef Council, Idaho Department of Agriculture, Idaho Farm Bureau Federation, Washington State Beef Commission and Oregon Beef Council. In Kansas, they toured the National Beef processing facility in Dodge City and learned about ranching and cattle feeding sectors.
The tour was supported by the Beef Checkoff Program, USDA and Idaho and Washington state beef organizations. For more information, visit usmef.org
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