American Beef wins International taste test

At the recently held SIAL exhibition, the largest international food and beverage trade show, US beef products came out on top over competitors from several countries.

Over 1,000 visitors took park in a blinded taste test where American striploins, top blades and flank steaks were compared to those from Argentina, Ireland, Germany and France. An impartial French market research firm compiled the results.

US beef was chosen over the other countries for both the striploins and top blades, with improved tenderness coming in as one of the main factors behind its success. What was also interesting was that consumers were able to recognize the US product over 40% of the time, while for most other countries less than 15% of consumers could recognize the country of origin. However, consumers did recognize the French steaks 21% of the time, as the French steaks consistently finished at the bottom of the pack.

To see the rest of the story feel free to visit:
http://www.drovers.com/news_editorial.asp?pgID=675&ed_id=8265&news_id=20850&ts=nl1

Enjoy,

Hyatt Frobose

Death and Taxes

Great news!

Today, the US Senate voted to extend all expiring tax rates for two years. While I'm sure there is some discussion that could be had within our readership on how our country should be taxed, I for one am glad that the so-called "Death Tax" is at least at-bay for another two years.

The estate tax was originally created and is still associated as a tax on the rich. However, this tax disproportionately affects US farmers, ranchers and small businessman due to its framework. The United States Department of Agriculture even cites the death tax as one of the primary reasons that multigenerational farming and ranching operations are broken up when the past owner passes away.

If the Bush-era tax cuts had not been extended for two more years, the tax would have jumped to levels of 55 percent on any estate valued over $1 million. So, for example, if a farmer in Ohio passes away who owns less than 300 acres (not even enough to make a living), at a conservative estimate of $3,500/acre, he would have land assets alone valued over the $1 million dollar threshhold and his family would have to pay 55 percent of that value to the federal government.

As a consumer, I love to buy my meat and food products from family farming and ranching operations (still over 98% of those in the US). However, taxes like these are part of the reason why it is so hard for young people like myself to take over a family operation and the reason why so many are dissolved today. Let's keep our fingers crossed that the House will follow suit with the Senate's vote so these tax exemptions can stay in effect.

Voters: keep in mind that this tax extension will still be up again in two years. So vote for Congressmen who will not only extend this tax exemption, but perhaps get rid of it in future years so that family operations can continue to dominate the landscape of American agriculture.

Thanks for reading,

Hyatt Frobose

Extra Extra Read All About It!!!

Hot off the press is the new issue of Lifelines, a publication put out by the Kansas State University College of Veterinary Medicine, and featured front page is the Upson Lecture Series that our group founded.

The coolest part of the new Lifelines feature is that there is an online video interview about the Temple Grandin Lecture and more information about Food For Thought. Go check it out!!!

http://www.vet.k-state.edu/depts/development/lifelines/1012.htm#Upson

HSUS: a new perspective

The Humane Society of the United States is an organization that uses it's name and emotional commercials to tug at the heartstrings of millions to raise more money to fund lobbying efforts. Their goal? To abolish animal agriculture as a whole. They do not support the local animal shelters that actually do work in our communities to help stray cats and dogs find homes. I have several classmates who are very passionate about doing work in these shelters and see a growing number of veterinary students interested in shelter medicine. They need to be the ones benefiting from the opening of America's pocket books when the commercial with the sad puppy in it comes across the tube.

I could go on, but this article says it perfectly. I encourage you to read the Q&A with Jake Geis. He is a veterinary student and a very bright, passionate person who will make strides in the animal health and welfare field.

PLEASE READ THIS ARTICLE AND SEE HOW JAKE VIEWS THE HSUS!

I encourage you to leave your opinions in the comment section below. I'd love to hear your take on things and learn a bit more myself.

My best,

Tera Rooney

Time to Bed Down!

It's getting cold and a lot of farmers and ranchers are starting to move some of their livestock inside for the winter and with that moves comes an increase in management.  Farmers supply indoor animals with bedding in order to make the living space more comfortable and provide warmth when it's rainy, cold and snowy.

A lot of farmers and ranchers use straw to bed down their animals. Straw consists of the dried stalks of plants, especially cereal grains such as wheat stalks or corn stalks. Straw is not hay!  Hay is used as a primary forage and serves as a valuable source of nutrients, energy and v&m (vitamins and minerals) whereas straw is used as bedding and also to assist with scratch factor in livestock. Another key difference between straw and hay is that straw is much cheaper. For example:

In Kansas an average small square bale (~65-70 lb) costs  ~$3/bale. One ton of small square bales may cost anywhere from $85-$95/ton (depending on size/price of bale).  Straw on the other hand is about $55/ton.  As you can see, it's much cheaper to use straw as bedding than hay because farmers will use several tons of straw throughout the winter to keep livestock warm and dry and those costs will add up.

Still having trouble differentiating between straw and hay? Check out these pictures:

Hay (above)

Straw (above)

Another form of bedding used in livestock operations are shavings.  Shavings are most commonly found made from pine wood. These are really prevalent in the show industry.  Here's an image of pine shavings at work.

The last form of bedding I want to discuss is sawdust. Sawdust serves the same purpose as straw or shavings but there is a downfall. Sawdust shouldn't be used in a building or area that allows strong winds to blow through - why?  Because sawdust is so fine that the wind can blow it up in the air and it can get into the animal's eyes.  You should never used sawdust in a trailer that has open sides or slats - that's just asking for irritated eyes.

Livestock aren't the only animals that enjoy warm bedding in the winter --don't forget to put some extra straw in your dog house this winter! 

Until next time,

~Buzzard~

Meatless Mondays

Recently you may have heard of a new movement in the school lunch programs, referred to as Meatless Mondays. Using a marketing dichotomy targeted at adolescents, Meatless Monday is a non-profit initiative that encourages eliminating meat from your diet every Monday of every week.

I have a problem with this idea of eliminating one food group in meals served to school-aged children for the following simple reasons:

1. I think the aim should be to teach children to make healthy eating decisions every day. Healthy, square meals include moderated servings of fruits, vegetables, grains, dairy and meat. I don't like the idea of trying to teach children this concept, by eliminating one of the food groups on one day of the week. We all, and especially children, need all of the food groups EVERY DAY of the week.
2. Budgets drive school lunch menu decisions, and we'd all like to see meal options improve in schools, however eliminating a major protein source from the meal is not the answer. Students need nutritious meals to fuel their activities throughout the day and that includes a meal with meat.
3. Ounce for ounce, meat provides more vitamins and minerals than any other food products. Nutrient dense food products like beef, which provides zinc, iron, protein and Vitamin B12, should be included in a healthy lunch.

These are the three reasons that I don't agree with the promotion of Meatless Mondays and I am some of you have an opinion on the matter. Pro or con, let me know what you think about this initiative in schools across the US. Leave some comments and good discussion!

All my best,

Tera Rooney

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~