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Nebraska beef/soy spotlighted in EU
Nebraska ag officials have wrapped up the first part of their trade trip in Europe, working to increase beef sales there. State Ag Director Greg Ibach talked with reporters following a major trade show in Germany. Ibach says Europe purchases a specially-produced type of beef, “We have a number of Nebraska producers, cow-calf operators and feedlots, that produce a non-hormone treated beef product from that cattle that are raised specifically to the European standards that make it an even more valuable beef product.”
Ibach says Nebraska leads the U.S. in packing plants and there is room to grow production of that beef.
Pat Knobbe, a Nebraska Beef Council director from West Point, Nebraska, says the Anuga food trade show in Germany was eye-opening. Knobbe says, “It is very interesting to see how other countries do things, see how our competing meats are doing things and how competitive the market is and the competition is very good.”
The second part of the trip is in Bulgaria where Ibach says a USDA Emerging Markets grant will help the department cultivate relationships with the goal of selling soybean and soymeal and other Nebraska commodities.
Ibach calls Bulgaria “a stepping stone” to increasing Nebraska ag sales in other emerging Eastern European markets.
AUDIO: Greg Ibach and Pat Knobbe
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