As of January 2017, some €14.9m of Irish beef has been exported to the United States.

Figures obtained by the Irish Farmers Journal through the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show that a total of 2,641t of beef has been exported to the US since the market opened to Irish beef.

In 2015, some 912t of beef with a value of €5.4m was sent to the US after the market opened in March of that year.

Last year, 1,656t of Irish beef was shipped to the US, to the tune of €9.1m.

Meanwhile, some 73t of Irish beef with a value of €364,000 was exported to the US in January 2017. Beef exports for January 2017 are down on the corresponding month last year, when 145t of beef with a value of €836,000, was exported Stateside.

There has been a drop in the type of meat cuts going to the US in January of this year; only edible bovine offal was consigned to the market in the first month of the year.

This compares to January of last year, when fresh, boneless beef, frozen boneless beef and thick and thin skirts of beef were sent to the US.

It was announced in January 2015 that the “lucrative” US market would be opening its doors to Irish beef, with the first exports of Irish beef hitting the US in March of that year.

In July of last year, Ireland also received access to export beef for grinding (mince) to the US market. However, to date no Irish mince has been sent to the US. It is understood that a number of meat plants are awaiting approval from the US authorities to start shipping beef intended for grinding to the market.

Ireland was the first EU member state to receive US Department of Agriculture approval to export beef to the market.