Mexico Boosts its Bovine Sector

Mexico is taking several actions to reposition itself in bovine exports to the US. As of March 2021, Mexican meat exports had grown by 11.4 percent in all branches and the commercialization of cattle to the US is reappearing, said the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (SADER). States leading these exports are Chihuahua, Sonora, Durango, Coahuila, Tamaulipas and Nuevo Leon.

SADER announced that as of May 4 of the 2020-2021 marketing cycle, Mexican producers had exported 937,841 head of cattle to the US, which represents a growth of about 2 percent previous productive period. Of the exported cattle, 97.4 percent came from Campeche, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Durango, Hidalgo, Nuevo Leon, Quintana Roo, Sonora, Tamaulipas, Veracruz and Yucatan. Mexico also generated 1.65 million tons of pig meat for both the domestic and foreign markets and has found commercial openings in important markets such as China, to which the country exported 13 billion liters of cow milk, according to Villalobos. 

After the 85th Ordinary General Assembly of the National Confederation of Livestock Organizations (CNOG), SADER claimed it will work in a coordinated manner to contain the bovine tuberculosis and brucellosis outbreaks affecting various regions in the country. The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Víctor Villalobos Arámbula, said the Plant and Animal Sanitary Inspection Service of the US Department of Agriculture (APHIS-USDA) would analyze the possible risks of mobilizing the cattle. SADER will also create state and regional evaluation plans for the US authority. It will also offer documentation that will be discussed in a meeting next June by the representatives of the veterinary services of Mexico and the US.

Mexico’s drought is also impacting its agricultural sector so SADER is designing a comprehensive damage mitigation proposal that considers innovative public policy mechanisms. 

The president of the CNOG, Oswaldo Cházaro Montalvo, said in the press release that “we can be sure that in Mexico the agri-food sector has surpassed the challenges presented by factors such as the pandemic, and fully fulfilled its role as a food supplier.“ Villalobos also mentioned that the General Coordination of Livestock would give all its support to the country's livestock sector so that the Mexican table does not lack animal protein and continues expanding to new international markets.