Mexico Open for Fed Cattle

OMAHA (DTN) -- U.S. cattle and pork producers could see greater market access to Mexico and Peru under a pair of agreements with those countries announced by USDA Friday.

Starting immediately, U.S. cattle producers can now export fed cattle to Mexico for slaughter, USDA stated.

Mexico had closed the border to U.S. slaughter cattle ever since the first U.S. bovine spongiform encephalopathy case in 2003.

Ed Avalos, USDA's undersecretary for marketing and regulatory programs, said the reopening of the market for slaughter-ready cattle to Mexico has been an issue he has worked on since he was a state official in New Mexico and had worked specifically on building a market in Mexico for U.S. cattle. It's been a priority for him at USDA.

"Since I came here in 2009, this has been one of the issues on my plate," Avalos said.

USDA expects the announcement would lead to about a $15 million boost in live cattle sales to Mexico. The border opens immediately, but will require some export documentation for those producers.

Avalos said he believes the increased cattle flow would boost the economy for both sides of the border. He noted it could help feeders in areas such as Brawley, California, that saw their packing plant close a year ago. Avalos had recently visited a packing plant in nearby Mexicali, Mexico, that will now be another option for slaughter.

"So it's a major importance to the Imperial Valley, but it's also of major importance to the big three packers on the Mexican side of the border because they need the cattle," Avalos said. "So it's another example of both sides of the border benefiting each other, and it's a win-win for the U.S. and Mexico."

In another announcement, USDA also reached an agreement with Peru to expand sales of fresh and chilled pork products to Peru. USDA estimates that could boost pork sales by about $5 million a year to the country. Peru loosened its import restrictions for U.S. pork after neighboring Chile did the same earlier this year.

Chris Clayton can be reached at chris.clayton@dtn.com

Follow him on Twitter @ChrisClaytonDTN

(AG/ES)

Copyright 2015 DTN/The Progressive Farmer. All rights reserved.