Corn Producers See Value through Red Meat Exports

Dan Beef, Corn, Exports/Imports, Industry News Release

corn producers

The U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) recently received the results of an updated study aimed at quantifying the value delivered to U.S. corn producers through exports of red meat. Joe Schuele reports the original 2016 study, as well as the 2018 follow-up, were conducted by World Perspectives, Inc., a leading agricultural consulting firm.


Dave Juday, senior analyst for World Perspectives, explains that the updated study was prompted by significant growth in U.S. beef and pork exports, which have increased 26 percent since data was collected for the original study. He notes that 11 percent of the price of corn this year will be derived from beef and pork exports, with red meat exports’ impact on corn prices equating to about 39 cents per bushel, based on an annual average price of $3.53 per bushel. In 2018, this amounts to $5.7 billion to the U.S. corn sector. The updated study is available online

Joe Schuele: The U.S. Meat Export Federation Commissioned an updated study quantifying the return U.S. corn producers receive from exports of red meat. Consulting firm World Perspectives conducted the study and its senior analyst Dave Juday has more details in this USMEF report. 

Dave Juday: Beef and pork exports have been a real success story not only for hog producers and ranchers but also for corn and soybean farmers. And we contracted with USMEF to do a study of the impact of red meat exports on corn. The original study was in 2016 and it looked at all the 2015 numbers. We’ve updated that because of the dramatic growth in exports. Combined beef and pork exports this year (2018) should land up about 126 percent of where they were in 2015 – that is, 26 percent growth. And if you look forward, we’re projecting that the baseline over the next 10 years will grow about 10 percent more than USDA had projected back in 2016. That adds up to about 450 million additional bushels of corn that will be used over the next decade by red meat exports – on top of what already was the trendline. 

Joe Schuele: On a per-bushel basis, this equates to a premium of nearly 40 cents. 

Dave Juday: If you look at the volume of exports this year and take the premium that’s bringing to the price of corn, it’s about 39 cents on a $3.53 bushel of corn. That’s 11 percent of a bushel of corn that is represented by red meat exports from the U.S. Just this year the value will be $5.7 billion to the corn sector, and it will continue to grow over the next 10 years. 

Joe Schuele: For more information, please visit USMEF.org. For the U.S. Meat Export Federation, I’m Joe Schuele.

Source: U.S. Meat Export Federation