USMEF Honored as “Industry of the Year” by Minnesota Soybean Producers
USMEF Honored as “Industry of the Year” by Minnesota Soybean Producers
At its annual meeting this week, the Minnesota Soybean Research and Promotion Council (MSR&PC) honored USMEF with the MSR&PC Chairman’s Industry of the Year Award. The award is presented to an industry or individual that the MSR&PC chairman identifies as having provided an exceptional benefit or service to Minnesota’s soybean farmers over the past year.
USMEF was selected for developing a marketing plan to move U.S. pork out of cold storage and improve the bottom line of the U.S. pork industry by bolstering pork exports during difficult economic circumstances. This “pork stimulus package” – funded through additional checkoff contributions from MSR&PC, the United Soybean Board, the Nebraska Soybean Board and the South Dakota Soybean Research and Promotion Council – included special promotions of U.S. pork products in the key export markets of Japan, Mexico and South Korea.
MSP&RC Vice Chairman Gene Stoel (left) presents the Industry of the Year Award to USMEF, represented by National Pork Board member Karen Richter and USMEF past chairman Jon Caspers
Accepting the award on behalf of USMEF was Jon Caspers, a pork producer from Swaledale, Iowa, and immediate USMEF past chairman. Also on hand to represent the pork industry was Karen Richter, a pork producer from Montgomery, Minn., who serves on the National Pork Board.
“For me, the significance of this award is the partnership it represents between the soybean industry and USMEF to support international marketing efforts for U.S. pork,” Caspers said. “The $800,000 that MSR&PC invested in this effort primed the pump for what grew into $1.35 million in soybean industry funding to support pork marketing programs in Japan, Mexico and Korea. As a pork producer, this warms my heart.”
Caspers added that USMEF has been able to magnify the marketing power of the soybean industry’s contribution, increasing it to more than $4 million by matching it with funds from the Market Access Program, the Foreign Market Development program, third-party contributions and other non-checkoff funds.
“That, my friends, is a formula for success,” he said.
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The U.S. Meat Export Federation (www.USMEF.org) is the trade association responsible for developing international markets for the U.S. red meat industry and is funded by USDA, exporting companies, and the beef, pork, corn and soybean checkoff programs.
For more information, contact Jim Herlihy at jherlihy@usmef.org.
USMEF complies with all equal opportunity, non-discrimination and affirmative action measures applicable to it by contract, government rule or regulation or as otherwise provided by law.
USMEF Honored as “Industry of the Year” by Minnesota Soybean Producers
At its annual meeting this week, the Minnesota Soybean Research and Promotion Council (MSR&PC) honored USMEF with the MSR&PC Chairman’s Industry of the Year Award. The award is presented to an industry or individual that the MSR&PC chairman identifies as having provided an exceptional benefit or service to Minnesota’s soybean farmers over the past year.
USMEF was selected for developing a marketing plan to move U.S. pork out of cold storage and improve the bottom line of the U.S. pork industry by bolstering pork exports during difficult economic circumstances. This “pork stimulus package” – funded through additional checkoff contributions from MSR&PC, the United Soybean Board, the Nebraska Soybean Board and the South Dakota Soybean Research and Promotion Council – included special promotions of U.S. pork products in the key export markets of Japan, Mexico and South Korea.
MSP&RC Vice Chairman Gene Stoel (left) presents the Industry of the Year Award to USMEF, represented by National Pork Board member Karen Richter and USMEF past chairman Jon Caspers
Accepting the award on behalf of USMEF was Jon Caspers, a pork producer from Swaledale, Iowa, and immediate USMEF past chairman. Also on hand to represent the pork industry was Karen Richter, a pork producer from Montgomery, Minn., who serves on the National Pork Board.
“For me, the significance of this award is the partnership it represents between the soybean industry and USMEF to support international marketing efforts for U.S. pork,” Caspers said. “The $800,000 that MSR&PC invested in this effort primed the pump for what grew into $1.35 million in soybean industry funding to support pork marketing programs in Japan, Mexico and Korea. As a pork producer, this warms my heart.”
Caspers added that USMEF has been able to magnify the marketing power of the soybean industry’s contribution, increasing it to more than $4 million by matching it with funds from the Market Access Program, the Foreign Market Development program, third-party contributions and other non-checkoff funds.
“That, my friends, is a formula for success,” he said.
# # #
The U.S. Meat Export Federation (www.USMEF.org) is the trade association responsible for developing international markets for the U.S. red meat industry and is funded by USDA, exporting companies, and the beef, pork, corn and soybean checkoff programs.
For more information, contact Jim Herlihy at jherlihy@usmef.org.
USMEF complies with all equal opportunity, non-discrimination and affirmative action measures applicable to it by contract, government rule or regulation or as otherwise provided by law.