TUCSON, ARIZ. – The US Meat Export Federation (USMEF) elected its new officers for 2024-25 at the end of the organization’s strategic planning conference.

Steve Hanson, a rancher and cattle feeder from Elsie, Neb., became the new chair of USMEF. He succeeds Randy Spork, a Minnesota pork and grain producer.

Throughout his career, Hanson held many other leadership roles in the beef industry, including chair of the Nebraska Beef Council and Federation of State Beef Council and president of the Nebraska Cattlemen. He also worked on the Beef Promotion Operating Committee, where he came to appreciate the importance of international marketing programs for US red meat.

“The Operating Committee is where I first got my exposure to USMEF, which invests our checkoff dollars so well and adds value to the beef carcass,” Hanson said.

Hanson also commended USMEF for working with a wide range of agricultural sectors to support a common goal – something he said was fully on display in Tucson.

“That’s one of the best things about USMEF conferences – the idea that I can attend the Pork Committee and Exporter Committee meetings, to broaden my perspective,” he said. “Yesterday, I sat in on the Exporter Committee meeting so I could learn more about the challenges they face moving product overseas. Those guys have some real hurdles, and this meeting gave me a much greater appreciation for what they do.”

During his remarks, Hanson also commented on the Denver ballot initiative during the election campaign that looked to ban slaughterhouses. He noted the industry’s unity on the issue.

“Fortunately, that measure was defeated by nearly a two-to-one margin, and we are very proud of that fact,” he said. “But there are more cities on these activists’ lists, and we need to be paying attention.”

Jay Theiler, executive vice president of corporate affairs at Agri Beef Co., was elected USMEF’s new chair-elect. Agri Beef specializes in ranching, cattle feeding, cattle nutrition and beef processing. Theiler previously worked as a director for the Idaho Beef Council and served on the Beef Industry Long Range Plan Task Force.

Dave Bruntz, president of Bruntz Farming & Feeding in southeastern Nebraska where he raises corn and soybeans and feeds cattle, will work as the vice chair of USMEF. He also served as a regional vice president for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association.

Darin Parker became the newest officer for USMEF as Secretary-Treasurer. He also works as director of exporter/distributor PMI Foods based in Salt Lake City.

During the closing business session on Nov. 8, the USMEF held a staff panel that focused on the importance of market diversification and developing new opportunities for US pork, beef and lamb in destinations.

Scott Reynolds, assistant vice president of marketing programs, explained how the association categorizes markets for beef and pork and showed how allocations of USMEF investments in new and emerging markets has grown by 22% in the past five years.

USMEF pointed out during the panel that Africa topped the list of new untapped markets for US red meat. Matt Copeland, the USMEF Africa Representative, focused on population and economic growth and reminded the audience that by 2050, one in four people in the world will be African.  

“The geographic reach is immense,” Copeland said. “It is more than 7,000 miles from Casablanca in Morocco in the north down to Cape Town in South Africa. One of the world’s finest beef restaurants will open in Marrakesh in September 2025 and will showcase US beef. In December, Marble is opening its second restaurant in Johannesburg and the flagship item on their menu is Prime grade beef from Snake River Farms. In between, we’re launching an event in Ghana in April 2025 that will be a wonderful opportunity to meet the entire West African trade.”

USMEF Latin America Representative Homero Recio directed recent proposals to develop new opportunities in South America, including a new product launch in Colombia.

“Colombia is a growing market for US pork made up of trimmings, hams, loins and ribs. But how do we grow tonnage? There are different ways to do it,” Recio said. “One, you just sell more of what you already sell. Another way is to introduce new items and that’s what we’ve been working on with the Boston butt ‒ pork’s best-kept secret.”

USMEF ASEAN Director Sabrina Yin examined the diversity of her region and the various development areas. She contrasted the highly developed market of Singapore with emerging markets such as Vietnam and Cambodia.

Yin explained that in several ASEAN markets, much of USMEF’s work is focused on overcoming technical barriers and working with the trade on supply chain development and capacity building for US products. USMEF continues to utilize sampling programs for US beef and pork toward growing retail shelf space.