South Korea-Beef farmers under pressure.

SOUTH KOREA

CATTLE FEEDERS FEELING THE STRAIN.

There are 184,000 small farmers in South Korea, many feeding 20 to 40 cows for beef fattening.The recent high costs of feed coupled with the United States renewing beef imports to the country, after a 5 year absence from the market, has got farmers worried.

According to Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forest and Fisheries, for the Lee Myung-bak administration, many local farmers have concentrated on organic farming and can obtain a premium price, for their beef however these financial concerns for the local farmers must be considered ,when the talks of a Free Trade Agreement(FTA)resume with the United States.

The fondness of heavy grain fed marbled beef in Korea, stems from the vast American cultural influence since the end of the Korean war. There is hardly any demand in the country for grass finished cattle which has kept the market closed to Argentina and Brazil.

The Australian feed lot cattle business, has been developed, purely to service Korea and Japan, with no demand on the domestic market where lean beef is the order of the day.