USMEF to Honor John Bellinger at Strategic Planning Conference

A distinguished leader of the U.S. meat industry, John Bellinger will be presented with the U.S. Meat Export Federation’s Distinguished Service Award for his career of service to the industry at the USMEF fall Strategic Planning Conference in Tucson, Ariz., Nov. 3-5.

The CEO of Agri-West International, Bellinger has served in numerous leadership roles in the industry.  He was USMEF chairman in 2006, and has served on the Texas Beef Council and as chairman of the Southwest Meat Association and chairman and founder of the Houston Livestock Show Intercollegiate Meat Judging Contest.

“John’s foresight and ardent support for developing export markets for U.S. pork was instrumental in the industry achieving continuous export growth over the past 17 years,” said Dan Halstrom, USMEF chairman.  “He understood that healthy pork exports create jobs and contribute to the economic well-being of rural America.”

Bellinger also serves as chairman of the board for Food Safety Net Services, which he and his wife, Gina, founded in 1995. It’s an independent analytical food testing laboratory with five locations throughout the United States. 

Established in 1991, USMEF’s Distinguished Service Award recognizes outstanding leadership and contributions to the achievement of the Federation’s export goals.

The award is being presented as part of USMEF’s annual Strategic Planning Conference, at which the Federation’s members, representing nine key industry sectors (packer/processor, purveying and trading, beef/veal producing and feeding, pork producing and feeding, lamb producing and feeding, feedgrain producing, oilseed producing, farm organizations, and supply and service organizations) meet to assess the organization’s strategic priorities for the coming year.

#  #  #

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.