Traceability called key to expansion of U.S. beef exports
Washington Ag Today December 29, 2010 U.S. beef exports have increased this past year - but to keep things moving forward - U.S. Meat Export Federation Chairman-elect Keith Miller says traceability and access are critical. He says gaining access in the future will have something to do with traceability and the U.S. is behind competitors such as Australia. Miller says ranchers may balk at the idea of traceability - but they may have to accept it. Miller: “Well the biggest obstacle as I see it is ranchers across this nation don‘t want to have to do it. They don‘t want people seeing what they are doing. They don‘t want the government to know what is happening on their individual farms. To me that‘s the least of the things we have to worry about. We have to worry about whether we can trace diseases that come around, where the animals come from so we can quarantine them so we don’t lose the entire herd of the whole United States. Those are the types of issues we need to deal with.” Keith Miller, Chairman elect of the U.S. Meat Export Federation, the export market development arm of the U.S. beef industry. I’m Bob Hoff and that’s Washington Ag Today on Northwest Aginfo Net.
Miller: “We are behind the eight ball right now as far as I am concerned. We need to try and figure out a way that we can get traceability of all beef animals. On the pork side we are doing well there and being able to meet our market conditions overseas, but the beef market, we have a long way to go.”
