Kansas officials on Monday cheered Japan’s decision to lift its ban on American beef, nearly two years after a case of mad cow disease was discovered in a U.S. herd.

Resuming the beef trade with Japan was considered a top priority in Kansas, the nation’s second-largest beef exporter. Before the ban, Japan was the most lucrative overseas market for U.S. beef producers, buying $1.7 billion in beef in 2003.