Agricultural News
Beef Board Chair Chuck Coffey Returns from the Orient with a New Appreciation for the Beef Checkoff
Thu, 25 Jul 2019 11:33:59 CDT
Chuck Coffey, a beef producer from Davis, Okla. is chairman of the Cattlemen's Beef Promotion Board, the body responsible for collecting and investing the dollar per head Beef Checkoff for the beef cattle industry. Coffey recently returned from a trade mission to Asia, where he visited with importers, restaurateurs and consumers in both Taiwan and Japan - two key export destinations for US beef. He sat down with Radio Oklahoma Ag Network Farm Director Ron Hays during the recent Oklahoma Cattlemen's Convention this past week in Norman, to talk about his experience on this trip. According to him, seeing first-hand how Beef Checkoff dollars are being used on cattle producers' behalf to promote and sell US beef was very gratifying.
"It was kind of a bucket list trip," Coffey remarked. "Being a cattle producer, you don't really realize all the ins and outs of the Checkoff. So, it really made me appreciate the value of the Checkoff and what we do - especially overseas."
The marketing Coffey describes, is a joint-effort between the National Beef Checkoff and US Meat Export Federation. Their combined efforts over time have yielded tremendous success, with US beef continuing to grow more and more popular among Asian consumers, as well as with other consumers around the globe. Japan alone is a market valued at $2 billion for the US beef industry. That is roughly where we were just a few years ago in 2003 when a case of BSE in the US cow herd effectively closed Japan's doors to US beef. A little over a decade later, despite tariff barriers, essentially all that has been recouped. Taiwan is much smaller compared to Japan, though still far from insignificant. At about 25% the value of Japan's market, Taiwan is worth approximately $500 million to the US beef industry.
"They love US beef over there. In fact, in a lot of the stores, I'll see more prime cuts of beef than I do sometimes here in the US," he said. "The Export Federation and the Checkoff has done a great job in Taiwan. They're exponentially increasing in their amount of US beef intake there."
Hear Coffey talk more about his trade mission to Asia, on today's Beef Buzz with Ron Hays or click here to read more about his trip.
The Beef Buzz is a regular feature heard on radio stations around the region on the Radio Oklahoma Network and is a regular audio feature found on this website as well. Click on the LISTEN BAR below for today's show and check out our archives for older Beef Buzz shows covering the gamut of the beef cattle industry today.
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