TheBeefSite Newsletter - 3 March 2010

TheBeefSite Weekly Newsletter

Wednesday 3rd March 2010

Our Sponsors: Helping keep you updated for free!

ON-LINE SHOP Â Â Â News Â Â Â Company News Â Â Â Events Â Â Â Articles Â Â Â Diseases Â Â Â Treatments Â Â Â Employment Â Â Â Cattle Breeds Â Â Â SEARCH

Welcome to this week's newsletter

Editorial: A Look At The Export Markets

Sales of US beef in Japan increased 23 per cent in both volume and value in 2009, despite Japanese supermarket sales falling to a 21-year low.

The US Meat and Export Federation has kept strong ties in the processing sector and their share of the Japanese market is slowly increasing. The US captured 20 per cent of the market in 2009, compared to just 10 per cent two years earlier.

In Taiwan, the Consumers' Foundation has moved to its second phase of the proposed referendum to ban US bone-in-beef, ground beef and bovine offal and spine imports.

The group is now hoping to collect signaturesÂ from five per cent of eligible voters by August to demonstrate to the US government their fears of BSE in US bone-in beef.

The Indonesian Agricultural Ministry has announced that it plans toÂ ban imports of beef offal as part of its move towards beef self-sufficiency.

The Australian beef industry is still fighting fervently against the government's decision to import beef from countries with BSE. The Australian Beef Association says that there is a danger to human and animal health. It has also raised concerns that importing beef from BSE affected countries could put Australia's beef industry and associatedÂ companies out of business, as they will have to compete with subsidised imports.

The Polish beef sector has seen sustained growth over the past three years. Some 60 per cent of their output is exported. Total exports in 2009 jumped by five per cent to 242,000 tonnes.

Beef export trade focuses heavily on Italy, Germany and Netherlands, with exports of approximately 60,000 tonnes to Italy and 44,000 tonnes to both Germany and the Netherlands. In 2009 the fastest growing export market was Spain, with exports more than doubling to 17,000 tonnes.

Charlotte Johnston

This Week's Feature Articles

We have 3 new features this week:

Financial Crisis Still Hurting US Beef Trade
Long term cattle supplies in the US are going to fall by another one to 1.5 per cent over this year, writes TheCattleSite senior editor, Chris Harris.

A Natural Alternative to Antibiotics in Animal Feed
Binding molecules from seaweed extracts within the molecular layers of natural clays makes the clay ten times more efficient at adsorbing the harmful fungal toxins which are commonly found in animal feed. The resulting new hybrid product has a huge potential market worldwide as a completely natural, effective alternative to the formerly-used antibiotics, which are now prohibited from this use in the European Union.

US Beef And Dairy Outlook Report - February 2010
Liquidation has led to a further decline in the national cow herd, however with a fall in corn prices expected there is the potential for producers to increase beef production. The fall in herd numbers is likely to affect the dairy industry as well with milk production predicted to fall, despite yields increasing.