Nolan Ryan, a former standout baseball pitcher who is now a Texasbeef produce...

Nolan Ryan, a former standout baseball pitcher who is now a Texas beef producer, was in Japan this past week to help the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) promote U.S. beef. Ryan called in from Japan on Thursday (July 19) to talk about his trip with U.S. beef industry representatives attending the Cattle Industry Summer Conference in Denver.

Ryan says the potential for U.S. beef in Japan, the No. 1 market for exports in 2003, is great.

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Ryan took part in many USMEF events while in Japan, including throwing the first pitch at a baseball game where the home team was managed by fellow former New York Mets player Bobby Valentine. In his playing days, Ryan threw pitches that were regularly above 100 mph, even past the age of 40.

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Ryan’s 5,714 career strikeouts rank first in baseball history, so his high pitch gave Valentine quite a jolt.

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Ryan also visited retail stores and saw USMEF promotions in action as consumers tasted samples of U.S. beef.

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Ryan says the next step is to increase consumer education about the quality and safety of U.S. beef.

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Ryan says he appreciates the opportunity to travel to Japan for many reasons.

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The U.S. Meat Export Federation 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, lamb, corn, sorghum and soybean checkoff programs.

– USMEF –