Ag News: U.S. Beef to the Philippines
**U.S. Meat Export Federation vice president Joel Haggard just returned from the World Food Expo in the Philippines, where he met with importers, processors and other prospective buyers eager for U.S. beef.
He notes U.S. beef export growth there is being driven in part by the proliferation of Korean-style barbecue restaurants, which use large volumes of U.S. beef short plate, a cut with little domestic demand but very popular in Asia.
Through the first half of 2019, U.S. beef to the Philippines totaled nearly 10,000 metric tons, up 19% from a year ago.
**Produce suppliers are taking hard looks at packaging in terms of costs, materials and environmental concerns.
Rainier Fruit Company vice president Andy Tudor tells thepacker.com, it’s pretty obvious everybody is on track to reduce plastic and increase recyclability, with an ultimate goal of packaging that’s backyard compostable.
Bruce Knobeloch of Watsonville, California-based Monterey Mushrooms, says “Recycle” and “reuse” are central to our packaging.
Packaging manufacturers say they’re aware of that evolution and are responding.
**While the number of dairies in the U.S. has shrunk significantly over the past 30 years, where those dairies are located hasn’t changed much.
In an agweb.com analysis of USDA data, that includes only dairies with more than 50 cows, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, has the most dairies, at 865.
The first Western state represented is California, where Tulare county resides at No. 9.
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