Beef industry is the driver of US agriculture sector

CHICAGO : The first suspected case of Mad Cow disease in the United States could badly damage what is the backbone of the US agricultural industry, accounting for about a fifth of all agricultural receipts, according to official statistics.

Annual sales of cows and calves runs are worth about 40 billion dollars, and the industry supports about 1.4 million full-time jobs on farms and ranches and indirectly in beef feed lots and packing plants.

Most of the beef raised in the United States is consumed domestically: 90 percent goes to the US market, with 10 percent being exported overseas, according to the US Department of Agriculture.

The most important export markets are Japan, Mexico, Canada, Korea, and Hong Kong, in that order and exports of beef and variety meats such as tongues and tails was worth 3.4 billion dollars in 2002, according to the US Meat Export Federation.

The average American chows down on about 68 pounds (30.9 kilogrammes) of beef a year, which is second only to chicken in terms of popularity.

American exports benefited from the devastation to the European cattle industry caused by bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or Mad Cow Disease, in the 1990s.