In recognition of many years of service to the U.S. agricultural industry, the U.S. Meat Export Federation recently announced its 2023 award recipients to be honored on Nov. 9 at the USMEF Strategic Planning Conference in New Orleans, La.

U.S. Meat Export Federation’s Michael J. Mansfield Award

Terry Branstad, former U.S. ambassador to China and longtime governor of Iowa, has been selected to receive the USMEF Michael J. Mansfield Award, which was established in recognition of the U.S. Senate majority leader and ambassador to Japan whose five decades of government service advanced U.S. trade relations throughout the world.

USMEF President and CEO, Dan Halstrom, shares his excitement about Branstad being chosen for this award: “As a native Iowan, I'm very familiar with his history in supporting agriculture and supporting international trade as a whole, with his multiple stints as Governor of Iowa—one of the leading states in agriculture. In addition, his outstanding service as ambassador to China and his integral part in the China Phase One Agreement in 2020, which has turned out to be a really big home run for the U.S. beef and pork industries.”

Halstrom also believes that Branstad’s time as Governor of Iowa and as ambassador to China helped smooth the relationship and kept agriculture and international trade a center point between China and the U.S.

The USMEF Distinguished Service Award

Bill Westman, who had a 29-year career with the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service and served as senior vice president of international affairs for the North American Meat Institute, has been selected to receive the USMEF Distinguished Service Award.

Now president of William Westman and Associates, a boutique consulting firm specializing in agricultural trade policy and export market development, Westman highlights how industry collaboration is of great importance when it comes to U.S. red meat exports.

Honored to receive the award, Westman explains how his career has led him to work with USMEF staff on many occasions.

“In this sort of business of market access, no one does anything by themselves,” Westman adds. “The places I worked collaborated closely with USMEF obviously—with the packers, the cattlemen, the ranchers—so that's what it's all about. It's a difficult business and it's hard to get access to markets. That's the key point, the industry has to work together—communicate, collaborate—in order to make progress in this business.”