After 14 years, U.S. beef hits Chinese market

CEDAR RAPIDS — During his Senate hearing to be confirmed as ambassador to China, then-Gov. Terry Branstad said he would prefer to serve Iowa beef — not cuts from Australia — at the U.S. Embassy there.

He won’t get that wish yet, but the prime rib he slices into Friday when joined in Beijing by U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue and Chinese government officials to ceremonially mark the return of U.S. beef to China after a 14-year ban will be from closer to home — Nebraska.