TheBeefSite Newsletter - 4 January 2012

TheBeefSite Weekly Newsletter

Wednesday 4th January 2012

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Welcome to this week's newsletter

Editorial: S. Korea Govt Blames Producers For Poor Prices

Despite beef and cattle prices reaching record highs across the world, the situation in South Korea is quite different.

Over the past year cattle prices have plummeted 20 per cent.

Producers are blaming growing beef imports for undercutting domestic prices. Beef imports increased 20 per cent in 2011, with a 66 per cent volume increase coming from the US and 31 per cent from Australia. Australia holds the largest share of the Korean market.

The government disagrees, saying that the supply of domestic cattle outweighs demand pushing prices down. With this in mind the government believes that culling 30 per cent of the national breeding herd will help increase market prices in the long run. However producers fear the situation will worsen once the South Korea-US free trade agreement (FTA) is fully implemented.

To protect producers from the negative effects of FTAs the government has announced plans to provide fiscal support for domestic agricultural producers who suffer losses caused by imported products under free trade deals.

The government is offering financial incentives to producers who cull breeding animals. This cull would boost beef supplies in the short run, and likely push prices down even further. To counteract this the government is expected to launch a campaign to encourage South Koreans to increase beef consumption.

It is not known yet how the industry has responded to the proposal to reduce the breeding herd. In early 2011 110,883 head of cattle were culled to contain the foot and mouth disease outbreak that hit the country in November 2010.

After the outbreak the government struggled to control prices as supply shortages hit the country and encouraged producers to rebuild the national herd.

Not even a year later the South Korean government has changed its tune. Is it using the expansion of the national herd as an excuse for falling cattle and beef prices, instead of looking at the effects that ever increasing beef imports are having on cattle producers and the local industry?

Charlotte Johnston

This Week's Feature Articles

We have 4 new features this week:

Select For Low Rib Fat To Boost Conception
Selecting for low rib fat as a way of boosting carcase meat yield may be linked to a reduction in maiden heifer conception, according to research conducted in the Beef CRC Maternal Productivity project led by Associate Professor Wayne Pitchford of the University of Adelaide.

Demand Rising For US Genetics In Eastern Europe
Poland's demand for US dairy genetics continues to expand, with seven months 2011 trade data showing a 10 per cent increase over same period 2010. For 2010, Poland's imports total 1.183 million, an increase of $300,000 or 46 per cent over 2009.

US Beef And Pork Exports Grew In 2011
Beef exports and foreign markets have always been of interest to the cattle industry, but the growth of beef export volumes and over the past two years has fueled anticipation of substantial demand growth in coming years, writes Shane Ellis, Extension Livestock Economics Iowa State University.

Improving The National Breeding Programme
Teagasc, in association with the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation and Sheep Ireland, has been making strides in the development of the national genetic evaluations for cattle and sheep in Ireland. However access to reliable data is hindering results.

Company News

Biomin India: Strong Presence at Local Trade Shows
INDIA - Kicking off in November, the annual Hyderabad Poultry Show is becoming widely recognised as the major event for the Indian poultry industry.

Global Beef Cattle Industry News