Jolley: Wesley Batista Talks Cattle, Beef & The Future Of The Industry At NMA Convention
Wesley Batista, the JBS man on the ground in North America, feels particularly bullish about the future of the beef businessā€¦but not enough to risk the cash he saved by NOT buying National Beef. During his keynote address at the National Meat Association Convention in Las Vegas this morning, he responded to a question about his spare cash by saying it might be a good time to hang on to it.
Coming out of Sin City, I guess you really have to be Kenny Rogers’ best friend and heed his wise advice: "You got to know when to hold em, know when to fold em." Batista elected to fold, at least for the time being.
Still, he didn’t slam the door on any new deals in the near future. Hedging his bets, he said, "In this market, it’s good to have some cash. We don’t have any immediate plans for any deals."
Comparing the U.S beef business with JBS other operations in Brazil, Argentina and Australia, he rued the extra paperwork required here. It’s an obstacle to operating a profitable business but he also tagged food safety issues and artificial barriers to international trade.
Fitting the international scope of the Batista beef empire, he emphatically stated that it was extremely important that the industry has better market access. He stated it was what the industry needs to "have the means to aggregate value."
Batista tried to put to rest the fear that the JBS expansion into the U.S. would cut back on competition and slice into the heart of a cattleman’s bank account. "In our industry, we need to work together for the whole industry to aggregate value. We need the producer, processors and retailers to work together to make money. We can’t survive without cattle. It’s in our interest to make sure we have a good supply."