Pennsylvania beef producers will be better able to compete in the international market now that a $20,000 state grant has been awarded to the Pennsylvania Beef Council, Agriculture Secretary Dennis Wolff said today.

The state funding matches a grant awarded to the Beef Council by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).

"Increasingly, foreign markets are imposing higher quality standards and stronger restrictions on the food products they import from the United States," said Wolff. "Pennsylvania's outstanding food safety and quality assurance programs, such as our Beef Quality Assurance program, help make our state's food products among the safest in the world and position our producers to meet foreign market requirements."

The state and federal matching grants will be used to conduct a feasibility study to help beef producers looking to enter the international market. The study will examine the needs and trade requirements of foreign markets and it will be conducted by the Pennsylvania Beef Council, with technical assistance from the state Department of Agriculture and Moyer Packing Company.

Source: orange.advfn.com