THE U.S. MEAT INDUSTRY OPERATES IN AN INCREASINGLY COMPLEX SITUATION WHERE THE ROLE OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE IS GROWING, PRESENTING A MYRIAD OF OPPORTUNITIES AND ASSOCIATED CHALLENGES. MEANWHILE THE DATA AND INFORMATION AVAILABLE TO INDUSTRY LEADERS IS LIMITED, CONSISTENT WITH A BROADER TREND OF PUBIC DATA THROUGHOUT U.S. AGRICULTURE BEING CONSTRAINED BY PUBLIC FUNDING CHALLENGES. RECOGNIZING THIS SITUATION, AND THE SUCCESS OF MULTIPLE SENTIMENT INDICES OUTSIDE THE FOOD INDUSTRY, LEADS TO THIS INTEGRATED RESEARCH AND EXTENSION PROJECT WHICH AIMS TO IMPROVE DECISION-MAKING BY BUILDING A NOVEL INFORMATION SOURCE BASED UPON EXPERT OPINION. THE OVERALL GOAL IS TO DESIGN AND SUCCESSFULLY IMPLEMENT THE FIRST-EVER U.S. MEAT EXPORT SENTIMENT INDEX. THIS GOAL WILL BE ACCOMPLISHED BY MEETING A SEQUENTIAL SET OF SUPPORTING OBJECTIVES. THE PROJECT WILL PROGRESS FROM CONCEPT TO REALITY FOLLOWING OUR LOGIC MODEL, EXPERTISE OF PROJECT PERSONNEL, AND YEARS OF DIALOGUE WITH INDUSTRY STAKEHOLDERS. OUR APPROACH ULTIMATELY POSITIONS NEW OUTPUTS FOR ONGOING SUCCESS AFTER COMPLETION OF THIS GRANT PROJECT. THE ONGOING, INTENSIVE INTERACTION BETWEEN PROJECT PERSONNEL AND COLLABORATING INDUSTRY LEADERSHIP IS CENTRAL TO PROJECT DESIGN, EXECUTION, AND SUCCESS. MORE BROADLY, THIS PROJECT DOCUMENTS LESSONS LEARNED TO OFFER OTHER SECTORS OF THE U.S. FOOD INDUSTRY AN EXAMPLE TO FOLLOW FOR MORE EFFICIENT APPLICATION. IN MEETING A CRITICAL NEED FOR AN IMPORTANT SEGMENT OF U.S. AGRICULTURE AND DEMONSTRATING A NEW PROCESS FOR FUTURE APPLICATION, THIS PROJECT IS VERY RELEVANT AND DIRECTLY CONTRIBUTES TO MULTIPLE GOALS OF THE AFRI FOUNDATIONAL AND APPLIED SCIENCE PROGRAM.