How Beef Goes From Pasture to Plate: A Video

It takes a lot to produce beef - not just in terms of hard work or lots of time, but also with reference to the number of people that dedicate their lives to taking care of livestock in order to produce healthy, safe beef.

The following is a video hosted on FactsAboutBeef.com that highlights the intricate lifecycle of a beef animal.



Additional questions about beef production? Shout 'em out below!

Until next time,
~ Buzzard ~

Thankful for a Life Around Cattle

Hey FFT Blog readers!  My name is Lindy Bilberry and I’m a new face on the Food for Thought scene.  I am currently a sophomore studying Agribusiness at Kansas State University and grew up around cattle—both in a beef feedlot and on our family’s cow-calf operation.  Growing up, I lived for the mornings that my dad would let me tag along on Saturday mornings to check cattle at the feedlot with him.  A lot of us are probably unfamiliar with what exactly happens in a feedlot, so I am going to share about my experiences in our operation.  Hopefully it helps us all to understand a little bit about how the cattle in the pens eventually become the hamburgers and steaks that we like to see on our plate!

Growing up, spending time around cattle was my way of life.  That’s me in the leopard print jacket with the calf.

One summer in high school, I had the chance to work as a ‘pen rider’ at Circle Feeders in Garden City, Kansas.  Basically, this meant that my job was to get on my horse every morning at 6:00 and ride through pens of cattle, checking to make sure that none were sick.  If we did find an animal that was sick, we would take it out of the pen and to the hospital (yes, we call the barn where sick cattle are treated hospitals) where the employees who are trained in animal health treat the animals for their ailments.  Circle Feeders had a capacity of holding about 13,000 head of cattle.  At that time, I was riding about one-third of the pens and on an average day I would pull maybe four or five cattle out for treatment.

Last summer my dad and I did some work at a feedyard outside of Garden City, Kansas.  This is a picture of what a large-scale beef feedlot looks like.

There is a lot of talk right now about antibiotic use in livestock and the fear that we are ‘drugging up’ animals in order to make them bigger.  I have had the chance to spend time in a lot of feedlots and around a lot of beef producers in my day, and I have never once found this to be the case.  People who are raising cattle, whether it’s in a feedlot, a cow-calf operation, or whatever, ultimately care about the health of their animals.  When I was working at the feedlot, I would pull animals out to send to the ‘hospital’ because I was worried about their well-being.  They weren’t treated with medicine to bulk up or get muscles, but rather to treat an illness.  They’re going to an animal doctor, just like we go to the doctor to get medicine if we have a sore throat or the flu or a fever.  Cattle are treated so that they can get back to feeling normal so that they can continue to eat and grow!

Questions, thoughts, comments, or concerns?  I would love to hear them!  As we approach Thanksgiving, I can’t help but think about how thankful I am to have grown up around cattle, feedlots, and producers who truly care about the well-being of their animals!
 
Until next time,
Lindy

Checking Cows and Summer Rain

Hello, everyone!  My name is Cassie Schmidtberger, and I am a veterinary student at Kansas State University.  I’m from the small town of Victoria in western Kansas where my family runs a cow/calf operation consisting mainly of Red Angus cross cattle.  Now, if you’ve heard anything about western Kansas, you have heard it compared to the desert.  We’ve been in a significant drought for a long time.  However, this summer we were blessed with rain!  A lot of rain!  It was great!  It was also muddy.  As the principal “cow checker” over the summer, I had the job of going around to our multiple pastures and making sure the cows, calves, and bulls were all well and healthy, not to mention in the pasture where they were supposed to be.  With all the rain, there were several roads that got slimy, and some that were just plain impassable.

Lots of rain leads to flooded roads

That meant I got to check cows on a four-wheeler (ATV) for probably half the summer.  This led to a great farmer’s tan, but also some pretty great opportunities to interact with our cattle.  You’ll notice in the picture to the right that I’m on the four-wheeler, and those cows are headed straight for me.   

 

Curious cattle!

They literally ran up to sniff and lick on the four-wheeler.  I’m sure it tasted like mud, but oh well.  It was a great moment for me.  To see our animals happy, with green grass, fresh water, and playing with me really drove home just how much I love what I do and the career I’m going to enter. I want every producer’s animals to be just as happy, healthy and full of life as our cows are.  Now that I’m back in Manhattan and no longer checking cows, I like to think on that day to remind me that my hard work in veterinary school is worth it, and that not all the happy cows are in California J.

Best,

Cassie

What Do Cows Eat?

A few weeks ago I was at home, cutting what may seem like run-of-the-mill hay to the untrained eye:

But, upon closer inspection you may (or more likely may not, due to my photography skills) see what is growing in that field:

 

Still can’t tell? Here’s a close-up brought to you by Google images since I forgot to take one:

 

The dreaded crabgrass

You might recognize this as a weed that has plagued your neighbor’s lawn and is slowly encroaching on your own, the dreaded Crabgrass, and this field has it growing about 3 feet tall.  So if this weed is growing like crazy in the field, why am I swathing and baling it instead of spraying it with herbicide or working it under?  The answer is cows.  Cows can take this weed and turn it into delicious beef. 

This got me thinking about what else cows eat that’s unusual, then I looked at my shirt.  It’s made of cotton.  After cotton is harvested, the seeds are separated from the fibers.  Ranchers can buy those seeds or the seed hulls and mix them into a ration for cattle.  

In my lunchbox I had a sandwich and a cookie.  Large scale bakeries have products that have imperfections such as broken cookies.  Folks with cattle that live near large bakeries can buy these products and feed them to their cattle.  In the end the bakeries don’t have to throw away products that people don’t want to eat, and ranchers get a low-cost feed ingredient. 

The pickup I was driving that day had gasoline in it that was 10% ethanol.  Ethanol is made from distilling corn, and after the distillation process is complete, powdery corn leftovers are… well leftover.  In the cattle industry these are known as distiller’s grain.  Distiller’s grain makes for a great ration ingredient to add protein, phosphorus, and sulfur to a bovine diet. 

The moral of this story is cattle are great at recycling.  They take byproducts of everyday items and, with the help of their ruminant digestive system, turn them into food for people.  So what do cows eat?  Just about anything.  Thanks for reading, and as always if you see or hear of something that concerns you about where your food comes from, ask a farmer. 

Eat Beef,

Bruce Figger





Cattle Enjoy Confinement

If you’ve even driven by a feedyard/feedlot you’ve likely seen cattle standing close together at the feedbunk, under the shade or just out in the middle of the pen. It sure seems like they are crowded in there, doesn’t it?

Well, did you know that cattle are gregarious? That’s just a fancy word for being sociable or fond of company, meaning that they live in close herds and social groups. So, while you may think that cattle in feedlots don’t have enough room to move around, they actually just like hanging out with their cow-pals. Cattle in feedlots have plenty of room to move around, play, lie down and eat; they would just prefer to hang out next to each other. It’s their natural instinct!

You’re probably thinking, “But Buzzard, what about when they are in large pastures with hundreds of acres to roam and graze on? Surely they spread out more to enjoy all that fresh, green grass, don’t they?”

Cattle are fundamentally a prey species, so grouping together is a way to keep the herd safer.

 

See all that green in the background? They could be spread out all over the place, but they prefer to stay together.

Nope! As you can see, the herding instinct doesn’t go away when they are on huge pastures. Even though they may have hundreds or even thousands of acres to roam, they still prefer to chill out in groups.

The point is that feedlot owners and employees want to keep their cattle as comfortable as possible and one of the ways they do this is by providing plenty of room for the cattle, but that doesn’t mean the cattle will take advantage of it. However, it’s important that they at least have the option.

Do you have beef production questions? Shout ‘em out – we’d love to hear from you!

Until next time,
~ Buzzard ~

Agriculturists Police Themselves

The agricultural community is capable of policing themselves and taking care of issues as they arise. My father and brother, Gary and Travis Theurer, have both been involved with a local animal cruelty case close to home. This past year, the Midwest has seen some of the worst drought conditions people have faced since the Great Depression in the 1930’s. This has resulted in drastic management changes by animal caretakers in order to keep the health status high of all the animals. On our farm and ranch, the drought has resulted in selling off some of our cows to have enough grass and forage available to feed all the cows in the summer, extra supplementation in the form of hay bales, lick tanks, and range cubes, and has also resulted in consistent monitoring of water situation to ensure all cattle had access to high quality water. However in this isolated incident, one particular cattle producer did not take the proper steps.

My father was contacted by the local sheriff department to see if he would be willing to help capture the animals and bring them home and care for them. Dad immediately wanted to help because he was informed of the condition of the animals and wanted to do anything he could to nurse them back to health. My dad and brother drove up to this ranchers’ place and gathered all the cattle and hauled them home. Both my dad’s and brother’s responses were, “These are the thinnest cattle I have ever seen. I’m surprised they even have enough energy to walk. These cows need a lot of care to help them along.” At home, the cattle were fed a forage diet. We were initially worried to start the cows on a high quality grain diet because the cows have not seen enough feed and would over-eat any grain product placed in front of them resulting in metabolic acidosis causing more harm to the animal rather than good. We developed a gradual step-up ration diet that would initially meet the minimal cattle nutrition requirements needed and then increased in order to add weight to the cows to get them back towards adequate conditions. We went to gather the cows the first part of July and they have currently added approximately 300 pounds due to the water and nutrition supply my family has been able to provide to these animals. I saw these animals a few weeks after they arrived at home when I was down visiting for the weekend and I saw them again a couple weeks ago. The progress they have made has been remarkable just do to some management practices. Video of the cows and news report of the animal cruelty case can be found here:

http://www.kake.com/home/headlines/Animal-Crueslty-Trail-Underway-In-Wellington-170373686.html

The reason why I chose to write this for a Food For Thought blog was just to show the ability of production agriculturists to not only care about their own animals but all of the livestock sector. The drive and passion people can have is outstanding in agriculture sector. While it was a sad and isolated event that animals suffered, people directly involved with production agriculture stepped in and tried to fix the problem the best way they could.

Until next time,

Miles Theurer

Ivy League Cowgirl

Jen Johnson holds a degree from Princeton and has a strong tie to the land her family has been ranching for generations. This video is a great example of how one passionate young woman has decided to make agriculture her livelihood.

Watch the full episode. See more America's Heartland.

Hope you enjoyed the video as much as I did!
Chelsea

Spring Break 2011: SWKS or Bust

I just got back from a long-awaited, luxurious break in tropical.....

Southwest Kansas

The only thing actually tropical about SWKS right now is how terribly dry it is. I haven't seen it this dry in a long time and the farmers in the area could really use some moisture. This fall, KSRE documented only .65 inches of precipitation in my home county. It's a "farmer rumor" that we have not received more than .11 inches of precipitation since the first of the year.

And even though I didn't get to hit up a beach on my spring break, I had a blast out at the farm and helping my dad. I got to clean out our calving barn because during calving season it tends to get a little messy! The best part of my trip was getting to check in on these little babies:

One of our first calf heifers, #123, with her baby heifer ready to nurse.

We have a set of first calf heifers that calved in the beginning of March. First calf heifers are female cows that are having their first calf. They take extra attention and management to make sure they raise a healthy calf.

When compared to older cows, heifers have a lot more calving difficulty. When a calf experiences a difficult birth it requires special attention because they often take longer to nurse and may have compromised immune systems. That makes getting them colostrum even more important than normal. If you don't remember what colostrum is, check out this post.

Two of our heifers, #123 and #125, nursing their calves.

We have all of our cow-calf pairs out on the corn stalks directly behind the farmstead, which would be where the yellow star is. They can walk up into the pens where the red star is, and get water and some extra hay that my dad puts out a couple of times a week. We also have protein lick tubs available for them. Our calving barn, blue star, is close to the pens so we can walk the cows up to it if they are having any trouble. Inside the calving barn is a large chute and three pens. That way, we can keep a cow and calf inside and out of the weather if needed. Obviously this winter, we haven't had to do much of that because the snow has not been an issue. Sometimes dad will keep a pair in the barn if the wind is terrible when it gets cold.

It was a much needed break from school and studying to be back on the farm and involved in production agriculture again! I also got a chance to explain to my little nephews that the cows Papa works with everyday become the beef that we enjoy on the dinner table. That is why agriculturists take pride in the animals they raise, because it feeds hungry mouths. The food we produce at our farm feeds my nephews and yours, and that makes it imperative that we produce a safe, nutritious and affordable product.

My Best,

Tera

Oprah Went Vegan for 1 Week - supposedly...

Have you heard the hype? The 'Oprah went vegan' hype, that is.  Earlier today, Oprah hosted Michael Pollan and Kathy Freston as she revealed the results of her 1-Week Vegan challenge. The challenge consisted of Oprah, and 378 of her associates, living vegan for a whole week. But did they really achieve their goal?

Sure, they didn't eat any meat or dairy products. But did they remove the hundreds of other animal products from their lives as well?  I have my doubts. Why? Well, in cattle, everything from the carcass is used. No part of the animal is wasted. For further explanation take a look at this picture.

I have a feeling that Oprah didn't give up cosmetics (udder), shampoo or conditioner (hooves/horns), glass (bones), candles or perfume (both from fat). The absolute truth is that we need animal products to live our everyday lives.

Also during this segment, viewers got to see Lisa Ling, Oprah journalist, take a tour of a Cargill meat plant. My props go out to Cargill for opening their doors to skeptists.  As expected, the plant treated the animals humanely and the meat was processed and packed safely and without mistake. Cargill's actions were a great example of transparency and should make agriculture very proud.

Bottom line - Eating meat is not evil. That is a direct quote from Michael Pollan (who is NOT by the way a 'food expert') but he hit the nail square on the head. Exercise, in partnership with a balanced diet full of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, dairy AND meat, is the best way to experience a healthy lifestyle. The Oprah segment had some positive effects - it got people to thinking and talking about their food choices and options. Informed consumers are not a bad outcome.  

If you are interested in learning more about humane farm animal welfare - sign in to Twitter tonight at 7 pm CST and participate in #agchat. Several FFT members will be participating, as well as farmers and ranchers from around the nation.

Until next time,

~ Buzzard ~

What's in That Feed Bunk?

This past week I was in Ohio with my fiancé’s family for Thanksgiving. I was getting settled into our room when I saw this picture on the wall.

Very old fashioned, yet to the point. There are a lot of claims out there that livestock are fed non-nutritive feedstuffs or garbage. Obviously, farmers and ranchers wouldn’t feed our livestock any feed products that are detrimental to the animal or consumer’s health or safety. Would you like to know some of the ingredients in livestock feed? I thought you would….

The 5 main ingredients in a diet for market weight pigs are:

• Corn 
• Soybean meal 
• DDGS – Distiller’s dried grains with solubles – (by products of ethanol production that are high in protein, fiber and oil)
• Vitamins and minerals
• Fat

These ingredients meet the nutritional needs of the animal and also contribute to a safe, healthy end product for the consumer.

While on Thanksgiving break, I was fortunate enough to get to take care of the cattle at the Frobose feedlot – every morning and night we cleaned their bunks, gave them fresh feed and checked to make sure there were no sick animals. Those are some lucky cattle, here was their dinner menu:

• Whole corn
• Whole oats
• Mineral supplement
• Alfalfa hay
• Straw to keep their intestines in fine working order

These dinner items may not be the most delicious sounding to you, but cattle love them!

If you have any questions about livestock feed, here are some links that provide ingredient lists:
http://cattle.purinamills.com/OurProducts/GrowFinishFeedlot/default.aspx
http://www.admani.com/allianceswine/MomentumStartersCompleteFeeds.htm
http://www.kalmbachfeeds.com/Product-Information.html

 

Or, as always, ask a farmer! They’d be happy to share the components of their livestock’s rations with you.

Until next time, 

~Buzzard~

 

Young Producers from around the World

This video features young livestock producers from five countries - Australia, Canada, Mexico, New Zealand and the United States - talking about their farms. I think it's interesting to see similar themes running through the lives of these young people from around the world. They're all very passionate about caring for animals and feeding the world. Additionally, they all care about the environment and sustaining it for future generations of livestock producers. Hope you enjoy the video as much as I did!

Best,
Chelsea