Is there still demand for Natural Grass-fed in the USA?

November 11, 2016 3:34 pm

With a Trump election win, the American agriculture community wasted no time considering what comes next; many industry groups and forecasters have already weighed in on what priorities agriculture should pursue moving forward in light of the presidential election. Markets behaved skittishly in the wake of the election news. The good news is this does not necessarily mean Trump will be bad for the economy or for commodity markets. Trump merely has created short-term uncertainty, with one American commentator predicting the market response as only a “knee-jerk” reaction.

In early October, I travelled to Colorado and California to follow up on relationships developed in 2015 and to visit natural grass-fed beef customers, potential leads and producers. I finished the trip by spending time with a variety of beef producers and land managers at a 7,000 acre ranch, 2 hours from San Francisco, that was hosting a 3 day conference on grass-fed natural beef.

The general theme amongst those I met within the beef trade is that their existing markets for grass-fed are expanding along with multiple new enquiries for product. For U.S wholesalers, sourcing reliable product to meet this growing demand is becoming a challenge. Most wholesalers start by trying to source locally but struggle to get the consistent volumes and quality. They then look to Canada, Uruguay and Australia.

the stats

The real opportunities for Australian grass-fed producers are:

  • More Americans are getting exposure to Grass-fed beef through a wider range of products, at price points that enable a larger portion of the population to participate;
  • As demand grows the U.S will be looking to source more product from a range of Australian locations;
  • We can play a major role in supplying beef during the calendar months that the U.S has a major shortfall; and
  • Australia has the capacity to service the premium end of the market where quality is required.

Impact Ag continues to manage a natural grass-fed supply chain for key clients and its suppliers and is developing relationships throughout the global red meat sector to capitalise on the growing demand.

Bert Glover 

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