Expectations for 2016’s Global Beef Trade

CattleFax analysts predicted $294 per head added value for US cattle producers from exports for 2016 – a $66 drop per head from 2014 values.

Randy Blach, CattleFax CEO and the CattleFax analyst team recently presented at the National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA) meeting in San Diego, California, US.

This decrease in export potential is caused by a combination of a stronger US dollar, slowdown in global markets and challenges with market access.

China and other global markets are still the biggest opportunities for US beef, but trade restrictions will continue to limit potential in the year ahead - read more predictions here.

In beef research news, Kansas State University meat scientists say they’ve confirmed previous findings that freezing certain cuts of meat improves tenderness.

In a recent study, they tested six major muscles from the hind quarter and found that strip loin and inside round steak cuts were as much as 10 per cent more tender after freezing.

"So the question we had was why did these two cuts react while the other four did not," said John Unruh, professor of animal sciences and industry.

Part of the answer, he noted, is moisture loss. "These two muscles, for some reason, did not lose as much moisture during freezing as the other four," Prof Unruh said – read more.