Vietnam, an emerging market for US beef
VOV.VN - Over the past few years, the American Brahman Breeders Association and US Brahman breeders have been cultivating a new business relationship with the agriculture community in Vietnam.
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The Vietnamese cattle breeders are primarily interested in Red Brahman genetics. Most of their domestic cattle herd is derived from Red Sindhi, a popular Zebu dairy breed that originated in Pakistan, and the agricultural community in Vietnam prefers the Red Brahman genetics as they are used to red Bos indicus cattle.
Vietnam is one of the fastest-growing markets for US food and agricultural products. US exports to Vietnam totalled more than US$2.3 billion in 2015, a 357% increase from 2007, which is the year Vietnam joined the World Trade Organization.
Vietnam ranks as the US eleventh largest agricultural export market.
2016 Trade Mission
The ABBA and the Holstein Association USA conducted a successful trade mission to Vietnam October 29-November 7, 2016.
The focus of the trade mission was to introduce and promote US beef and milk breeds and demonstrate how the utilization of high quality genetics could help develop the Vietnamese cattle segment.
We don’t do many trade missions, said one of the leading representatives on the trade mission, noting that the case of Vietnam is different. Vietnam is a new, emerging market, and the people there are very excited about the American Brahman.
During the trip, the trade mission conducted an educational workshop in Ho Chi Minh City that was attended by more than 80 producers, key leaders and government officials.
Participants included representatives from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, agriculture departments from several provinces, veterinarians, agriculture engineers as well as large animal corporations and producers.
The workshop was held at the Caravelle Hotel meeting facilities and was highly publicized with national television and newspaper coverage. The workshop covered a variety of topics from genetics, environment and housing to importation procedures and management.
After the workshop, the trade delegation participated in ranch tours as well as meetings with government officials. They also visited the Ruminant Husbandry Centre and the National Institute of Animal Science in Vietnam. These visits allowed them to meet many individuals and organizations vital to the beef and agriculture industries in Vietnam.
The Vietnamese cattlemen are very interested in growing their beef cattle segment, and there is a substantial demand for more American Brahman genetics to be imported into their country, said the leading US trade representative.
In addition to providing the Vietnamese agricultural community with information about the Brahman breed, the trade mission worked to facilitate talks between them and animal science professionals in the US.
Cattle Imports
The Moncada Breeding Station - Vietnam Ruminant Breeding Centre in Hanoi is currently the only cattle semen collection station in the country, and it is run by the government. To bolster the country’s beef and dairy cattle genetics, the centre collects bulls and sells semen to citizens at an economical rate.
Over the last two years, the Moncada station has imported 20 Red Brahman bulls from breeders in the US.
The first shipment consisted of ten young, breeding-age Red Brahman bulls from top ranches in Texas and Louisiana, including K Bar Farms, Detering Red Brahmans, Broken Triangle, Oden Ranch, 4L Cattle and a few others.
During the US 2016 trade mission, the breeding station made a verbal commitment to import ten more bulls, due to the success of the 2015 importation and the high demand for American Brahman genetics.
In March of 2017, Alfredo Muskus of Santa Elena Ranch in Madisonville, Texas escorted the second shipment of Red Brahman bulls on their journey to Vietnam.
The bulls were selected from top breeders including HK Cattle, Detering Red Brahmans, Santa Elena Ranch, Canyon Creek and Rich Cattle Company. They were between a year and eighteen months old.
World Wide Livestock Express handled the quarantine, and TK Exports, Inc. managed the exportation of animals from Houston, Texas to Hanoi.
It was an incredible experience, Alfredo said. The hospitality was great, and the people were very excited about the quality of the American Brahman bulls and the semen collected from previously imported animals. I am enthusiastically looking forward to working with them again in the future.
