Missouri hog farmers have a vision: planeloads of Midwestern pork chops flying to China, landing on the dinner tables of a booming middle class with the cash and appetite for premium protein.

Indeed, trade prospects for pork and beef topped the list of selling points that business and agricultural leaders employed in trying to lure Chinese cargo planes to Lambert-St. Louis International Airport.

"That was a really important part of the package," said Jason Van Eaton, executive director of the Midwest China Hub Commission, the group working to make St. Louis the entry point for Chinese air cargo in the Midwest. "That's what we led with."

With the Chinese population approaching 1.4 billion and wealth growing at a stunning rate, the appetite for luxury products is surging. The Chinese are buying high-end appliances, cars, clothes and wine, flaunting them as symbols of their success. Meat producers here hope that prime American meat becomes the next must-have luxury on the Chinese shopping list.

Though hurdles remain — from shipping costs to international politics to meat marketing — producers see the potential for a lucrative new market.

"China is the largest producer of pork and the largest consumer of pork, by a large margin," said Don Nikodim, executive director of the Missouri Pork Association. "But their supply doesn't meet their demand, so this represents a big opportunity."

Last week Chinese authorities announced that China Eastern Airlines had been given the go-ahead to negotiate creation of the trade hub, potentially starting with three flights per week in and out of Lambert. The announcement marked important progress for the commission, which has worked for three years to make St. Louis the Midwestern doorway for Chinese trade. For farmers, it represented the potential opening of a new market.

"Any time we can move agricultural product, it's a wonderful thing," said Rick Rehmeier, who operates a 1,000-sow facility near Augusta.

But before producers here start seeing any boost from Chinese demand, they will have to whet the country's appetite for the choicest cuts. U.S. protein producers send about 20 percent of their products overseas each year, and the vast majority of that goes by ship. Much of it is frozen. Much comes from parts of the animal that American consumers won't touch.

"Americans, we eat from the middle of the carcass out. The loins are the best," explained Scott Hays, chairman of the pork association, which has been working with the Chinese delegation. "They have different diets. It's my understanding that they eat from the outside in. They take the feet first. But if we could introduce them to an inch-and-a-half chop, that'd be exciting."

The introduction may not translate to the opening of a new market, despite the growing appetite for luxury.

"A very little fraction of meat is sent by airplane, because the freight cost is so high. … It runs up the cost, dollars versus pennies," said Jim Herlihy of the Colorado-based U.S. Meat Export Federation. "I can't say there's not the potential if they're looking at high-end restaurants. But if you're looking for large-scale retailers and food service sales, the cost of air traffic versus cargo ship, it's really significant."

Still, producers here hope wealthy Chinese will decide that loins and steaks are a better match for their new status — and that they will pay a premium to have them flown in fresh.

"We're really now beginning to focus on the market with the biggest potential — the high-end restaurants and hotels," said Rex Ricketts, director of the University of Missouri Extension's commercial agriculture program. "We're really focusing on the fresh market. … The hotel and restaurant business is just exploding because of the business climate."

The commission is talking to the big meat processors, such as Cargill and Smithfield, which are, in turn, talking to people on the ground in China.

"We're working with the Chinese to create the distribution chains and partnerships so they can handle it. There's a lot of detail work …"‰," Van Eaton said. "It will take months."

The industry also faces some regulatory hurdles. The Chinese government closed its market to American pork after the H1N1, or swine flu, scare of 2009, opening it up only last year. Chinese officials closed the market for American beef in 2003 amid the mad cow scare, and it remains closed.

"We're working through trade representatives in D.C., making sure we get some agreements signed," said Jeff Windett, executive vice president of the Missouri Cattlemen's Association. "There's a real opportunity to get agricultural products on those flights and do our part as far as balance of trade."

Anthony Clayton runs Clayton Agri-Marketing, a Jefferson City-based live-animal shipping business that shipped 3,000 pigs to China in 2008, before the hog market closed.

"One thing is market access. We have the client base. We know that," Clayton said. "A lot of these agricultural issues are caught in the cross-hairs of larger political issues between the U.S. and China."

For Clayton, who currently ships animals mostly through Chicago, the new hub would mean greater convenience and, likely, a few more dollars.

"It would help with inland freight trucking to Chicago," he said, "and it would alleviate stress on the animals."

Though it could be some time before the first flight arrives at Lambert and leaves with Midwestern meat aboard, producers here remain optimistic.

"The one thing we do well in this country is agriculture, and we want to keep doing that," Ricketts said. "Any time we can move product to China or any other country, it's a good deal."