Japanese Journalists Tour US Beef Industry
US - A group of Japanese journalists is getting an extensive inside look at the US beef industry as part of a US Meat Export Federation (USMEF) educational initiative to better inform key Japanese opinion leaders about the safety of US beef.
28 September 2010
3 minute read
Representatives of the Sankei Shimbun (one of Japan's five national newspapers, with a daily circulation of 2.8 million), Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun (Business & Technology Daily News with a circulation of 420,000), the Meat Journal and the Daily Meat & Livestock Food Industry Newspaper are on a week-long educational tour that includes Colorado State University's Agricultural Research, Development and Education Center, tours of a beef processing plant, feedlot and cattle ranch, as well as retail and food service establishments. Funding for the visit is provided by the Beef Checkoff programme and the USDA Market Access Program.
"These journalists are information sources for government officials, meat industry executives, consumers and other journalists," said Susumu (Sam) Harada, USMEF-Japan senior director for trade projects and technical service, who is accompanying the journalists. "Helping them see the safety practices employed by the US beef industry and the high quality standards for both livestock and finished product is important as we look to expand access for US beef exports to Japan."
"There is a long-term benefit to our industry in helping to educate international media so that they better understand the policies and practices of the US beef industry," said Mark Gustafson, JBS USA international sales, who hosted the visiting journalists' tour of the company's Greeley, Colorado beef plant. "There are differences between how the industry operates in the United States and Japan, but our priorities are the same. We are both committed to producing safe and wholesome beef."
One of the biggest differences the visitors will see is the scale of operations in the United States versus those they have seen in Japan. A large beef plant in the United States will process as many cattle as all of Japan. Similarly, feedlots in the US can hold tens of thousands of cattle while smaller feeding operations are the norm in Japan.
"The larger and faster operations do not mean lack of quality and safety control," said one of the visiting journalists. "The consistent ability (of US beef production facilities) to comply with the various requirements of many foreign markets is far beyond my expectation."
The journalists also enjoyed a meeting with Dr Temple Grandin, Colorado State University professor of animal science and industry pioneer in animal welfare.
"The technological development to assure safer and wholesome products, and the high level of commitment to animal welfare at cattle production and at beef plants should be more publicized in order to tell the Japanese audience the reliability of the US industry," said another journalist.
Mr Gustafson added: "Understanding the differences and seeing how the US beef industry can maintain a high standard of quality even with much higher volumes is important for these journalists. And witnessing the complexity of our systems to sort cattle by age and to sort products for shipment, in our case, to more than 44 markets around the world is an eye-opening experience. In the end, the same system of food safety practices and technologies that serves American consumers is utilized to provide high-quality, grain-fed beef for Japanese families and consumers around the world."
Through the first seven months of 2010, the United States has sold 64,959 metric tons (143.2 million pounds) of beef valued at $336.2 million to Japan. Those numbers are 25 per cent higher than the same period of 2009.
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