Missouri Beef Industry Council

Week of June 21, 2010

This Week in Missouri:

Highlighting Missouri Cattle Farmers
Consumer Beef Research
Missouri Cattlemen's Steak Fry - Sedalia

Websites

www.missouribeefcouncil.com, MO Beef Update, is the place to learn about what's brand new in Missouri!
www.mobeef.org, MBIC's website, MBIC's website, is the place to learn how to encourage 4-H youth to share the benefits of beef.
http://twitter.com/beefcouncil, is where folks are talking about Father's Day! Follow us!
http://www.farmerfreedom.com, posted an article about animals spiritual concerns.

Market Update

Choice/Select Spread: $8.42/cwt.
23,972 feeder cattle sold in the state of Missouri last week compared to 26,070 a year ago. Avg. prices/weights:
Steers Heifers
Holstein Steers
552 lbs: $124.77 549 lbs: $113.69
549 lbs: $85.72
637 lbs: $121.52 641 lbs: $111.41
667 lbs: $85.05
757 lbs: $112.84 732 lbs: $106.91
752 lbs: $82.19

4-H Beef Cooking Demonstrations
Now is the time to encourage 4-Hrs in your county to participate in the Beef Cooking Demonstration contest held annually at the State Fair in the Beef Showcase next to the Beef House. The contest will take place Saturday, August 14. Only one contestant per county can enter the state competition and they must cook a beef recipe highlighting the value of cooking with beef. For more information, contact Whitney at whitney@mobeef.com.

Beef Exports Surpass 2009 Levels
In April 2010, U.S. exports of beef and beef variety meats topped year-ago levels by 27 percent and were about 10 percent higher than levels recorded in April 2003, the last year of "pre-BSE" market access.

According to statistics released by the USDA and compiled by the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF), a contractor for the Beef Checkoff Program, exports of beef plus beef variety meats totaled 182.6 million pounds valued at $311.3 million in April, bringing the cumulative total for January-April 2010 to 678.9 million pounds valued at $1.1 billion.

April results were even more impressive when focused solely on muscle cuts, with exports of beef muscle cuts valued at $268 million - 37 percent ahead of 2009 levels.

U.S. beef exports to Asia continued to grow at a torrid pace in April. Japan was the leading Asian market during the first four months of calendar 2010, both in terms of volume (58.9 million pounds) and value ($141.8 million). Each of these totals represents an increase of 34 percent over January-April 2009. But South Korea is right on Japan's heels, with a volume of 58 million pounds valued at $112.3 million - increases of 39 percent and 58 percent, respectively, over 2009 levels.