Trade Relations at USMEF Strategic Planning Conference Center

Members of the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) will gather in Tucson, Arizona, November 6-8 for the federation’s annual Strategic Planning Conference.

USMEF President Randy Spronk, a pork and grain producer from Minnesota, will mark the end of his tenure leading the organization.

“Anytime we get funding from our award to match our producer funds is important to us,” says Spronk. “We have some opportunities to create more diversification in some of the new markets here.”

Spronk sees opportunities in Indonesia in particular. Although there is no free trade agreement with Indonesia, tariffs are moderate. Funding from USDA’s new Regional Agricultural Promotion Program (RAPP) could help open up marketing there.

“When you start talking about 280 million people, we will have the ability to use RAPP financing for beef, pork and lamb to create new opportunities and diversify our markets,” he says.

At the conference, Spronk will serve on a panel with Bob Ruth of the National Pork Board and Ross Havens of the Cattlemen’s Beef Board to talk about telling the producers’ story.

“It will be great to hear Bob and Ross comment on international travel with USMEF and their take home. “They can actually tell producers why it’s important to support USMEF.”

Spronk says it’s important to share these experiences with international partners to build relationships and trust in U.S. exports.

“Don Pemberton and I were in Korea and Japan on our Heartland Tour a year ago, and it was really interesting to see Don cooking steaks with bloggers in Korea,” Spronk explains. “A producer from Kentucky tells his story about how he raises beef and then takes it to Korea and cooks it.”

The meeting agenda is full of relevant and enlightening topics. Jim Wiesemeyer will provide an analysis of the impact of the presidential election and its potential impacts on U.S. trade policy, and a leading expert will provide updates on U.S.-Mexico trade relations.

“Mateo Diego will talk about Mexico, which is a very important market for us,” says Spronk. “There’s a new administration there, and we’ll be talking about how our two countries will work together, not just in terms of labor and trade, but also in terms of exports of beef, pork and lamb.”

Updates about the conference will be available at: USMEF’s website.