By Michael Kelsey

No matter what political affiliation you claim, we all have at least one thing in common – trade. We all do it, maybe not on a global scale, maybe only at your local grocery or lumber store. On second thought, that can be dependent upon global trade as well.

Eons ago, man harvested everything that the family needed right off the land. Diets were not very diverse back then. You worked long and hard or you didn’t eat. Then along comes the ability to transport items long distances at a reasonable rate. Add to that the ability to preserve through refrigeration. Now folks can “harvest” by simply going to the local market to “trade.” That frees up time for other interests that have little if anything to do with gathering food. In fact, most of those interests could be classified as entertainment. Thanks to “trade,” all this, good and bad, is possible.

I have long been amazed at the debate over trade. There are all sorts of ideas, ranging from free and totally open with no support systems, to absolutely none, in or out. A producer shared with me recently that we need not worry about exports considering our current trade status and prices for cattle. I appreciate this scenario, but considering what cattle were bringing in November of 2003, I honestly feel like our industry is only getting part of our pie.

There is no doubt that domestic demand has been very strong. Consumers vote with their dollars. Annual average consumer expenditures were $267.52 in 2005. That is more than $37 higher than in 2003! Many factors contribute to this and certainly our own industry can take partial credit for the great work we have done to promote our own product. We must remain vigilant in this effort as the attack on our product continues to mount new and widespread strategies. Just as we work to promote our product here at home, we would be remiss if we didn’t mount a strong effort to sell our product in the world marketplace as well. Again, recall that fed cattle were over $1 per pound just prior to the cow that stole Christmas in 2003 when U.S. beef was a prominent member of the world’s meatcase.

We have all heard the statistic, 96 percent of the world’s population lives outside the U.S. That figure represents a lot of mouths that should have the opportunity to enjoy our great product. As economies grow and people are able to afford high quality proteins, our product has a great opportunity to be featured on billions of plates. Even more significant are the specific products that that 96 percent will consume; tongue, tripe and heart are just a few examples that have all lost value since our export markets have been closed. Byproducts value has fallen steadily since 2003 – $101.23 per 1,000-pound steer to $89.73 in 2005. That’s almost $12 per animal just in byproducts value that our industry has lost due to closed exports.

Now let’s be honest with ourselves. Regaining our lost market share will not be easy, nor will it come overnight. In fact, we have a major, uphill climb! But when has our industry ever backed away from a challenge? Beef producers are resourceful, creative and hard working, with a desire to get the job done right the first time. Build that on top of our great product and you have yourself a recipe for success!

All of these numbers and statistics can be presented to make just about any case. If you like trade, then we are losing dollars without it. If you don’t buy the trade argument, then we are just fine right now. There is one glaring fact though that we need to remember as our industry debates trade – Global beef trade will occur! Are we in or out? Think about it.    Michael Kelsey is executive vice president of Nebraska Cattlemen. Contact him at mkelsey@necattlemen.org.