The Midwest Cargo Hub Commission and St. Louis Lambert International Airport have worked together to design, fund, and build new live animal penning, holding, and loading facilities to allow for live animal exporting. The facilities are now ready for use and as of April 7, 2017, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has granted conditional pre-approval to the facility as both a Temporary Port of Embarkation and Temporary Export Inspection Facility.
The export of livestock genetics from the United States by air is increasing. The central location of St. Louis provides an opportunity to expand activity from this region with a custom-built facility designed to be cost effective and focused on efficiency and livestock welfare. Within the air cargo industry, the export of livestock is a specialized field and is both highly regulated and technical; therefore, to solicit, coordinate, and carry out live animal export shipments will require a coordinated communication and work-flow by multiple non-connected entities.
Scope of Work:
Task 1: Review St. Louis Airport Marketing Activities
- Review airport marketing activities to determine if any may be supportive of livestock export operations (e.g. trade show attendance, marketing paraphernalia, etc.)
- Identify St. Louis Airport marketing activities that may be helpful towards the promotion of livestock export operations
Task 2: Develop a Marketing Plan
- Develop a plan to promote St. Louis Airport’s livestock export facility among U.S. organizations at industry trade shows, conferences, and meetings focused on shipments of livestock
- Write a plan for marketing outreach to cover a 12 to 16 month period
- Assist the creation of promotional materials for St. Louis Airport’s livestock export facilities that are appropriate and informative for the livestock industry
- Identify state agriculture departments with large animal export programs and specialist livestock export intermediaries who act on behalf of buyers and sellers globally
- Identify trade shows and other relevant industry events
Task 3: Implement the Marketing Plan
- Attend trade shows and other relevant industry events either as a visitor or exhibitor
- Obtain memberships in national and/or international trade and export associations relevant to livestock exporters
- Contact companies within the seedstock and commercial segments of the various livestock industries (beef and dairy cattle, sheep, goats, hogs)
- Estimate forecasts of livestock demand by particular locations as well as overall globally, including which species are in demand in which parts of the globe and, in particular, what segment of that species is in demand
- Monitor disease status in particular locations deemed critical for various species and provide counsel on how airport export opportunities may be impacted
- Organize open house events and tours of St. Louis Lambert International Airport’s livestock export facilities, including developing invitation lists, scheduling, and overall event planning
- Input on promotional materials (physical, digital, and online)
- List of participated trade shows and membership organizations
- List of contacted companies (potential operators) and their responses
- Demand forecasts of livestock globally
- Notices of any animal disease outbreaks
Task 4: Develop Non-Export Facility Usage
- Seek and engage other animal-rest or holding opportunities to supplement and diversify operations in between export activities
Task 5: Planning and Implementation Activity Report and Suggested Next Steps
- Highlight accomplishments and explain any challenges
- Provide recommendations and next steps for marketing outreach activities
