Pork exports smashed records last year and beef export value climbed 5% from 2023. With robust red meat exports to finish 2024, a new study by the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) shows the economic impact that had on corn and soybean demand.
The study, which was conducted by the Juday Group, was unveiled during the live taping of U.S. Farm Report during Commodity Classic this week. The shows 30% of the pork produced in the U.S. is exported today. And exporting more than 14% of U.S. beef production is consumed outside the U.S. Exporting corn through U.S. beef and pork generated the following demand:
- Beef and pork exports accounted for 525.1 million bushels of U.S. corn usage, which equated to a market value of $2.24 billion (at an average 2024 corn price of $4.27 per bushel).
- Beef and pork exports accounted for 3.04 million tons of DDGS usage, equating to $525 million (at an average 2024 price of $172.56 per ton).
- Beef and pork exports contributed an estimated total economic impact of 14%, or $0.59, of bushel value at an average price of $4.27 per bushel in 2024.
- Pork exports accounted for 100.7 million bushels of U.S. soybean usage, which equated to a market value of $1.12 billion (at an average 2024 soybean price of $11.11 per bushel).
- Pork exports contributed an estimated total economic impact of 13.2% of bushel value, or $1.46, at an average price of $11.11 per bushel in 2024.
“We send a lot of corn and soybeans out through us beef and pork and when you look at that, every hog that we export outside the United States, that’s 10 bushels of corn,” says John Hinners, Senior Vice President, Industry Relations, U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF). “The Dave Juday study shows the impact of that is 59 cents on a bushel of corn in 2024 on that impact and then $1.46 on a bushel of soybeans. So it has significant impact.”
Hinners says bottom-line is the corn and soybean industry are critical in U.S. Meat Export Federations’ efforts to grow global demand for U.S. red meat.
“World demand for protein has never been better. And when you think about what we do as an organization, we’re trying to build profit opportunities in the agriculture business, not specifically one sector or another, but just red meat in total,” he says. “And it has an impact on everything we do in agriculture, whether that’s the corn grower, the soybean grower, and so forth.”
Hinners says the U.S. isn’t exporting the high-quality cuts of meat, like ribeyes or New York steaks. Most of those cuts are consumed here at home. What the U.S. does export, and provides value, is the cuts and parts of an animal that aren’t preferred by U.S. consumers.
“When you think about what we send outside of the United States, it’s not the ribeye steaks and New York strips. It’s the beef liver, it’s the tripe on that animal. It’s the pork tails, the feet, the snout. A lot of these good protein items are garnished and really welcome in different countries,” says Hinners. “We’re trying to add value to these items that we don’t traditionally consume here in the United States. And it’s great protein.
Exploring the Tariff Impact on Red Meat Exports
According to the USMEF, total U.S. red meat exports in 2024 was $19.1 billion. Mexico, China and Canada add up to 8.4 billion of the total, about 40%. USMEF president and CEO Dan Halstrom told Farm Journal’s Clinton Griffiths the impact remains unknown as it remains a ‘fluid situation.’
“I think the important thing to remember is that just because there’s tariff doesn’t mean the trade stops,” says Halstrom. “What it does do is it opens the doors of some of our competitors. Use Mexico as example. If we have a retaliatory duty on our products, beef or pork, we are competing against Brazilian product, for example, coming into Mexico. So that’s a very big focus that we have. They were a competitor before this when we were all zero -duty, and it’ll even be more so with a duty.”
Halstrom says it’s key to think longer term about the situation and what it could mean for export potential in the future.
“I personally think that the Trump administration, one, had our back in agriculture. I don’t think there’s any reason to think that they won’t again, but it will be a bumpy ride.”
During the previous Trump administration, the president renegotiated the free trade agreement between Mexico and Canada, which is known as the U.S., Mexico, Canada agreement (USMCA).
“We were on schedule for a review of USMC anyway in 2026, so there is an effort I think to move it up quicker, which might actually work to our advantage. We’ll have to wait and see,” Halstrom says. “This is sort of the concern when you start putting bilateral, unilateral duties on countries that you are kind of outside the confines of the free trade agreement structure. But like I said, it’s a very fluid situation. I do think the other thing that we have that’s definitely in our favor is that demand for our products globally is record breaking. I mean, it’s as good as I’ve ever seen it in 40-plus years. We have a very unique product. We’ve got to kind of keep that in mind because that’s a big leverage point.”
