US Beef Exports Pick Up The Pace In 2017 Sporting A Strong Competitive Edge Internationally

Apr 13, 2017

American beef exports plateaued last year in 2016, after the industry experienced several steady years of increase in the foreign marketplace. Here in 2017, it seems the export market is back on track and doing surprisingly well. Jim Robb of the Livestock Marketing Information Center spoke recently with Radio Oklahoma Ag Network Farm Director Ron Hays about the numbers coming in from the first two months of 1Q.

“USDA put out their February numbers which followed the trend of January where we posted strong year-over-year increases in beef exports,” Robb reported, noting that exports by tonnage were up by 20 percent. “The peak of beef exports tends to be in the summer months but we’ve posted strong gains and also our imports fell year-over-year for the first two months of the calendar year by 17 percent.”

This is a significant pivot from what we saw last year, says Robb, adding that the effects of this have spread into the pricing profile - which explains some of the dynamics felt in the markets over the last several months. Contributing to this too are signals in the markets that reflect both international demand and our attractive prices right now.

“The year-over-year gain is mostly in tonnage, so this is a tonnage game,” Robb remarked. “We’ve has a lot of positive developments. We are certainly much more competitive than we were a year ago, competing in markets.”

Click here to see more...

Video: A chain harrow is a game changer

Utilizing a rotational grazing method on our farmstead with our sheep helps to let the pasture/paddocks rest. We also just invested in a chain harrow to allow us to drag the paddocks our sheep just left to break up and spread their manure around, dethatch thicker grass areas, and to rough up bare dirt areas to all for a better seed to soil contact if we overseed that paddock. This was our first time really using the chain harrow besides initially testing it out. We are very impressed with the work it did and how and area that was majority dirt, could be roughed up before reseeding.

Did you know we also operate a small business on the homestead. We make homemade, handcrafted soaps, shampoo bars, hair and beard products in addition to offering our pasture raised pork, lamb, and 100% raw honey. You can find out more about our products and ingredients by visiting our website at www.mimiandpoppysplace.com. There you can shop our products and sign up for our monthly newsletter that highlights a soap or ingredient, gives monthly updates about the homestead, and also lists the markets, festivals, and events we’ll be attending that month.