The findings come from a study sponsored by the Texas Beef Council and conducted by the Center for North American Studies at Texas A&M University.
"The problems we found among firms involved in exporting were mostly related to the logistics of moving product to Mexico and inconsistent policies in China," said Dr. Parr Rosson, center director. "And there were some problems with getting paid by the foreign buyer."
The study will be used by the council in an effort to promote future exports of Texas-produced beef.
Consolidation over the last decade led to a number of small Texas beef processing companies being bought out by some of the largest packing companies in the United States, said Doug Perkins, vice president of beef resources at the Texas Beef Council.
"Consequently, they dropped their export focus," he said. "We weren't seeing any companies popping up to replace them. That's when we asked why weren't there any new companies coming in to fill the gaps?"
Fifty-two processors responded to the survey, which included 20 exporters and 32 non-exporters. Approximately 60 percent of Texas federally inspected packing firms surveyed listed Mexico as its top export market, followed by Japan (25 percent) and Russia (15 percent.)
"Mexico has been the fastest-growing market for several years. Its trading opportunities have been well-established since NAFTA," Rosson said.
Japan, the largest export market for U.S. beef, has a steady demand in supplying beef in its restaurants and hotels with high quality "table-ready meats," Rosson said.
"These are high-end cuts. Some of these same cuts are going to Mexico as well to supply their tourism industry," he said.
The top problem Texas firms said they commonly encountered were inconsistencies in interpretation of regulations by foreign custom officials. This was particularly true with firms exporting to Mexico, while other problems included documentation and traffic congestion at border crossings.
"About a quarter of the nonexporters who responded had exported in the past, but quit because they had some problems with the market being closed and leaving them holding the product," said Flynn Adcock, Center for North American Studies economist and coauthor of the study.
Many firms complained about lack of payment, but Adcock said "instead of selling on open account, they could get a documentary draft or establish a letter of credit."
Other concerns included a large U.S. market, perceptions that some processors were too small to compete, and lack of interest.
Use of export assistance programs may be hindered by lack of information. Just over 21 percent of the exporting firms say they use the Texas Department of Agriculture's Go Texan program, while almost 60 percent of the non-exporters knew of the program.
The Texas Beef Council is in the early stages of putting together a plan that would better educate the state's processing firms on exporting Texas-produced beef.
"A study like this is vital for getting input from the other side and getting the type of information they need to move forward," Perkins said. "That's why this study was important to us. Like one of our board members said, 'You can't make a diagnosis on the patient until you have a test.' To us, this is very valuable. We can step back and better meet the demands of what (beef processors and producers) need."
The complete study can be viewed at http://cnas.tamu.edu/