February 10, 2010

US soy sector boosts support for pork sector

 

Soy producers have underwrote a US Meat Export Federation (USMEF) initiative to bolster US pork exports in an effort to help improve the economic outlook for the pork sector.

Soy organisations from Minnesota, Nebraska and South Dakota, as well as the United Soybean Board, stepped up to the plate with an additional US$1.35 million in funding to support USMEF's pork marketing programmes in the key international markets of Japan, Mexico and South Korea.

The Minnesota Soybean Research and Promotion Council got the ball rolling by investing an additional US$800,000 toward USMEF promotions in Japan and Mexico during late 2009 and the first quarter of 2010. The Nebraska Soybean Board soon stepped forward with a commitment of US$200,000 toward the same Japan-Mexico effort.

The "Pork Stimulus Package" gained further momentum when the United Soybean Board invested US$250,000 in pork marketing programmes in South Korea and the South Dakota Soybean Research and Promotion Council made an additional investment of US$100,000.

The purchasing power of the US$1.35 million soy industry investment is seen to approach US$4 million, as USMEF is able to use these funds to leverage support other sources.