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USDA: More imported beef than expected

A new analysis of how much US red meat production is from foreign-born animals had an unexpected finding. The USDA analyzed data from 2000 through 2010. 

Kenneth Mathews is an analyst with the USDA’s Economic Research Service.  He tells Brownfield, “We were, I guess, a little surprised that the amount of beef from foreign sources was as large a share of our total supplies as it was.”

The USDA analyzed data from 2000 through 2010.  That share of beef imports to the US over the decade was roughly 18 percent of total U.S. beef supplies, mostly from Canada and Mexico. The amount of imported of pork was about 10 percent of the total U.S. supply.

USDA – ERS study