KANSAS CITY, MO. – Days ahead of the US Meat Export Federation’s (USMEF) Spring Conference, the event’s organizers provided a preview of the opening day presentations from two of the speakers. The conference, scheduled for May 22-24 in Kansas City, will feature an opening general session from Kip Tom, US ambassador to the United Nations for food and agriculture, updating attendees on international trade policy issues. Also on the opening day agenda is a presentation from Randy Blach, chief executive officer of CattleFax, who will provide an update on US and global cattle production and input costs affecting producers.

Tom said his perspective as a farmer has enabled him to realize the importance of sales of crops domestically and globally.

“We need to make sure that we have sales going on around the world. And I know this audience already gets this,” Tom said. “But we need to look beyond the borders of the United States and look around the world on what's going on with trade, consumption patterns, and what are the risks we could potentially face. I'll speak to that. I'll get into what hunger looks like around the world and why food security is national security. I'll talk a little bit about some of the geopolitical risks associated with our industry and that trade around the world.”

Tom also plans to cover: the EU Green Deal, the farm-to-fork initiative, Proposition 12 and the prospects for the future of consumption in the animal protein sector.

Blach said he plans to discuss weather-related headwinds cattle producers have faced in recent years and the supply issues now presenting new challenges.

“We all know we’ve been fighting drought for a number of years and things are starting to turn,” Blach said of his upcoming presentation. “Last year was a better year for moisture, and we’re seeing a slowdown in cow slaughter. We're seeing the number of heifers placed on feed slow down. It looks like we have more people to at least have the intent to start holding a few more heifers back. So, there’s some positive things developing there if this weather situation will continue to cooperate.”

He added that a tight cattle supply is spotlighting the importance of quality beef.

“Obviously, we’ve been going through a situation that as these supplies shrink, prices have gotten higher, but the market continues to incentivize people to make cattle better,” he said. “Higher grading cattle - continue to stay focused on high quality cattle in our production systems. And I don't think that’s going to change based on the price signals we’re seeing.”

The rest of the event’s agenda is available here.