US targets NZ lamb!

R-Calf USA, which represents cattle and sheep producers in US domestic, international trade and marketing issues, is taking its case to US lawmakers in Washington.

A petition - representing sheep farmers from 15 states - was sent to US Trade Ambassador Katherine Tai this month. It seeks relief from lamb and mutton imports, which the group claims has decimated the US commercial sheep industry.

The 33-page petition describes the importance of the US sheep industry to America's rural communities, environment, and economy. The petition claims imported lamb and mutton - primarily from Australia and New Zealand - have increased 2363% in dollar value and 543% in quantity since the early 1990s.

It claims that Australian and NZ lamb are not subject to the more stringent production standards required of US sheep producers. One example it cites is widespread use of 1080 for predator control, while the chemical has been all but banned in the US.

Meat Industry Association chief executive Sirma Karapeeva says that the US receives only 9% of NZ's total sheepmeat export volume.

"While there was an increase in the volume of sheepmeat exports in 2021-22, the US still only accounted for 9% of New Zealand's total sheepmeat export volume," she told Rural News. "The export volume over the last 12 months (2022/23) is very similar to previous years."

Karapeeva also points out that given the scale of the US market, there are opportunities for growth in North America for both New Zealand and US lamb.

However, R-Calf USA chief executive Bill Bullard says farmers have been wary of Australian and NZ lamb imports for over a decade. He says R-Calf USA began warning the US cattle and sheep industries that its sheep sector was the 'canary in the coal mine'. "Where the sheep industry is going, so will go the cattle industry," Bullard claims. "Since the early '90s, US lamb production had been declining drastically. But at the same time, lamb imports from Australia and New Zealand were exploding year after year.

"We cried wolf! But no one listened. Insteady, they said we were a bunch of radicals trying to establish relevance in a world when globalisation was king, and every new free trade agreement was touted as America's next economic saviour."

According to Bullard, the US sheep industry has declined 62% since 1980. With now only five million sheep, the number of full-time American sheep producers has fallen 60%.

"Our goal is this: to stop the ongoing destruction of our domestic sheep industry and to provide an opportunity for it to re-establish a dominant market share position so American consumers no longer have to rely on foreign supply chains for this important protein."