According to the latest CSO figures to the end of April, the Philippines bought 20 times more Irish beef than the US in the first four months of 2017. The figures indicate that the US bought 330t of Irish beef while the Philippines bought 6,658t in the same period.

The US market was launched in February 2015 by then Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Simon Coveney with great expectation, but significant volumes of beef sales failed to materialise despite a further promotional visit.

Now, Minister Creed is leading a trade mission to the US and Mexico and the US leg of this will come in for particular attention given the flagging performance of beef and pigmeat sales there so far this year. Of course, the US is an important dairy market and that has to be nurtured.

Looking at USDA import figures up to last weekend, 804t of beef have came in from Ireland compared with 1,210t for the same period last year. Pigmeat imports from Ireland have halved from 3,094t to just 1,562t this year. Ireland’s performance in the US beef market contrasts with Brazil which got US approval last autumn, but it was into this year before it started trading significant volumes.

According to the USDA figures, 6,380t of beef have been imported from Brazil so far this year with no comparable figure for the same period in 2016.

Up to this point, Irish beef exports to the US have failed to develop significant volume for two main reasons. Firstly, the US primarily imports manufacturing beef used in burgers and other mince-based recipes. Ireland only secured approval for this type of product in the middle of last year and so far only one delivery of this product has taken place.

Although a protocol for Irish manufacturing beef has now been established, factories are reluctant to take the risk of product rejection in the US, especially when they have equally lucrative alternative markets in Europe for the leaner product with the Asian market buying the higher fat content and lower value products. The reason for the reluctance to send this product to the US is the requirement that ground beef there goes through a series of E coli tests, which are not applicable in Europe due to different processing procedures.

In the US, a lactic acid is used at several stages of processing in the abattoir and cutting plant. In Europe, the focus is on prevention with ultra clean carcases being the standard. However, in the absence of an acid wash, it is impossible to be certain that absolutely no contamination has occurred. That is why the advice is to cook burgers and ground beef products thoroughly, so that any risk is removed, whereas the US meat can be consumed in any state as it is sterile after the acid-washing process.

Ultimately, various parts of the beef carcase are sold in the markets offering the best return. It will be of little concern to farmers where these are as long as a decent value is returned by factories for the cattle. In this context, having access to the widest range of options is what maximises the value of the carcase. Therefore, while the US may not be an active market at present, it is valuable to have it as an alternative and, of course, having USDA approval gives Ireland extra credibility in developing other international markets.

Similarly, the attainment of what amounts to the USDA’s seal of approval by Bord Bia for the Irish beef production system enhances the reputation of Irish beef in the US. Similarly, Slaney’s Hereford initiative with Lidl represents an interesting niche that has potential to develop, but neither of these will drive volume sales in the short term.