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ISU says South Korea the “star market” for U.S. pork

Pork producers and industry officials from Iowa are on a trade mission in southeast Asia, visiting Japan and now South Korea. Pat McGonegle, CEO of the Iowa Pork Producers Association, says both countries view U.S. pork as a very high-quality product, “So that’s been important to us but we’re also in a very competitive market. Other countries, our friendly competitors, they are taking opportunities to take be as aggressive as they can be.”

Speaking from Seoul, McGonegle says that marketplace aggression is expected and it’s healthy, “It’s in our nature in agriculture when somebody competes with us, we’re going to become more competitive so we’re being more aggressive because our competitors are being more aggressive.”

Lee Schulz, a livestock economist with Iowa State University Extension, calls South Korea the “star market” for U.S. pork, now that the trade war has shifted trade in many areas of the world, especially China. He says “the image, the quality and the reliability of U.S. pork helps keep (the U.S.) in first place.” Japan is the top importer of Iowa pork products followed by South Korea.

Audio excerpt: Thanks to Radio Iowa, Brownfield’s sister radio network~