Korea-U.S. International beef symposium Nov. 1-2 at Texas A&M University

By: Blair Fannin

COLLEGE STATION – A two-day symposium scheduled November 1-2 at Texas A&M University will address increased global demand for high-quality beef produced in the U.S. and emerging opportunities internationally.

The Korea-United States International Joint Symposium is an event that will “foster international trade of beef with primary focus on high-quality beef,” said Dr. Stephen Smith, Texas AgriLife Research meat scientist and professor in the department of animal science at Texas A&M.

“As Asian countries become more affluent, there is a greater demand for well-marbled, tender beef,” he said.

Smith said both choice and prime cuts produced in the U.S. “fit well into Korean and Japanese markets.”

“But there’s also demand for ‘super prime’ beef that can be produced only from a select few breeds of cattle,” he said. “This symposium will address the demand and production of high-quality beef in the U.S., Asia, and Central and South America.”

Smith said some of the main questions that will be addressed during the event include:

•What is the best way to produce beef for export to high-quality markets such as Korea and Japan?

• Can we increase efficiency of beef production with growth promotants without reducing carcass quality?

•Is there a place for byproducts such as distiller’s grains or palm oil in high-quality beef production?

Other topics will in-clude growth-promoting feed additives and production of high-quality beef; impact of byproducts (distiller’s grains, cooking oils and glycerin) on carcass quality.

The following is a list of scheduled speakers:

(From the U.S.):

Franke Rabe, JBS

Dr. Bradley Johnson, Texas Tech University.

Dr. John Hutchinson, Merck Animal Health.

Dr. John Scanga, Elanco Animal Health.

Dr. Jim Drouillard, Kansas State University

Dr. Antonio Calles, beef specialist.

Dr. Jim MacDonald, AgriLife Research, Ama-rillo.

 

(From Korea):

Dr. Won-Kyong Chung, National Institute of Ani-mal Science.

Dr. Tae-Gyu Kim, Cargill Animal Nutrition, Korea.

Dr. Kyoung Hoon Kim, National Institute of Ani-mal Science.

(From Japan):

Dr. Nobuhiro Kimura, Nippon Veterinary and Life Science University.

(From Brazil):

Dr. Pedro de Felicio, State University of Com-pinas .

The symposium was developed through a mutual interest in high quality beef production among the department of animal science at Texas A&M, AgriLife Research, and the National Institute of Ani-mal Science of the Rural Development Administra-tion, Republic of South Korea.

Registration is $150 and more information can be found at http://anim alscience.tamu.edu/sympo sium .