Bone-in beef | Regaining market access would be a boon for producers
If every person in China ate one more hamburger per month, they would consume more than the total amount of beef Canada produces in a year.
John Masswohl’s back-of-the envelope figures show the scale of potential gains in Canada’s export beef trade.
The director of government and international relations for the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association was part of a 70-person trade mission to China led by federal agriculture minister Gerry Ritz June 15-20.
The mission resulted in plans to restore access for Canadian bone-in beef from animals younger than 30 months, which Ritz said could expand Canada’s export beef market to $240 million per year.
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Canada lost access for bone-in beef to China in 2003, following the BSE crisis. Incremental deals have since restored access to deboned beef and industrial tallow.
Canada Beef president Rob Meijer, who was on the trade mission, said there was a potential ceiling of $100 to $200 million worth of boneless meat exports to China, but a bone-in deal would provide a major boost to export value.
“When you start to get into the bone-in opportunities, that’s where the growth both in volume and value really starts to take off for our industry,” Meijer said.
Supplying bone-in product reduces Canadian processing and packing costs and limits waste from trimming. The meat also has enhanced flavour.
“We’re always looking for what we call incremental value in terms of the distribution of the carcass, and it’s the incremental value that lends itself to the greatest return on investment for the producers,” said Meijer.
Masswohl said China continues to build new beef and pork processing facilities. One source told him at least one new beef facility and two new pork facilities are built every month, but they go out of business within a few years through lack of supply.
He said China is unlikely to significantly increase livestock numbers because of land and feed pressures, which opens doors for international trade.
CCA president Dave Solverson, also on the trade mission, said he was enthused about the reception that the Chinese gave the Canadians.
“It’s been a valuable trip,” he said, speaking from Guangzhou.
“We’ve been talking about the potential in China for years, and now we are actually seeing the fruition.… Canada is well positioned to be a supplier.”
A memorandum of understanding was also signed on the mission that may get market access for live Canadian cattle, particularly for the dairy industry.
In a teleconference from Shanghai June 20, Ritz said the trade mission also established updated protocols for Canadian exports of live hogs to China, which could increase the export of hog genetics to $11 million from $8 million annually.
Canadian Pork Council president Jean-Guy Vincent, who was on the trade mission, said in a news release the Chinese market was worth $225 million to the Canadian pork industry last year.
Results of the trade mission may help increase pork trade into China, according to Ritz.
The mission also led to improvements for forage exports.
“We resolved Chinese concerns and secured access for timothy hay exports,” Ritz said via teleconference.
“The forage industry estimates that the market value for this product could reach some $8 million per year through the next five years as China ramps up its milk production.”
