The U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) Board of Directors Meeting and Product Showcase was held last week in Kansas City, Missouri, drawing a record-large turnout of 250 members from a broad cross-section of the meat industry and 120 international buyers. In his welcome remarks at the Opening General Session, Chairman and Nebraska Corn Board farmer-director Mark Jagels thanked member organizations for their support for red meat exports and commitment to the international markets.
“I look at the diversity of USMEF’s membership as one of our biggest strengths,” Jagels said. “We truly have the most diverse membership of any red meat organization in existence. The broad representation of USMEF’s membership and your commitment in terms of time, expertise and financial investment are what make USMEF great and allow us to achieve success internationally.”
Jagels reviewed first-quarter export results for U.S. beef and pork, which were up substantially from a year ago despite tight supplies and a number of market access challenges. He provided a brief overview of market conditions and trends in Mexico, South Korea, China/Hong Kong and Japan, noting that these and other key markets will be discussed in greater detail at Thursday’s Beef and Allied Industries Committee and Pork and Allied Industries Committee meetings.
Listen to Jagels audio opening remarks here.
On Thursday evening, USMEF hosted its largest-ever product showcase, with 21 exporters exhibiting beef, pork and lamb products for more than 120 international buyers. USMEF will provide comments, photos and other details from the product showcase in next week’s Export Newsline.
The USMEF meeting concluded Friday morning with the organization’s business meeting. Chairman Mark Jagels thanked members for making this a successful and productive event in which USMEF took action on several key issues.
The board adopted changes to the USMEF bylaws that were explained in detail in a March 25 letter from Jagels to the USMEF membership and in a detailed document issued after a four-week open comment period. The most significant change to the bylaws relates to the at-large and advisory seats on the USMEF Executive Committee, as explained in the documents linked above.
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