Good News, Bad News

This will be a good news, bad news column. Some of the good news is the nation’s cow herd is at it smallest since 2015 and with the uptick in moisture so far this winter, calf market should be bullish across the country. Corn futures for September are favorable year to year for feeders, so we should see a vigorous auction season for calves.

More good news exists in the arena of plant-based protein and so-called fake meat products. I know most of you have some knowledge of these meat alternatives. Along with the good news (more about this below) is some bad news. The very fact huge investments are being made in creating a plant based alternative protein to meat from chickens, beef cows and pigs should give any farmer or rancher a great deal of pause about the future of animal agriculture. Couple the development of these protein replacements with a desire on the part of consumers to make sure animals are humanely raised and livestock growers have a sustainability ethic and the prospect for more growth in the alternative sector exists.

In fact, the producers of these alternative products attempt to separate themselves from real meat producers by claiming their products and production are better for the planet. Unfortunately, these claims resonate with some consumers. There's evidence the fake messages about fake meat have an impact on buying choices. This is some of the bad news. By the way, I don’t like to use the phrase “fake” meat because even though it is not real and the phrase is catchy this “meat” is not MEAT. Some of the evidence the proponents are using to sell the idea that cattle are a chief cause of climate change is simply dead wrong. An old debunked United Nations study claiming cattle are a big problem has been found to be wrong on every point for close to a decade.

About four years ago when Impossible Foods partnered with Burger King to market the Impossible Whopper and Beyond Meats launched an IPO that saw a stock price rise dramatically for a while, it seemed like real meat production was going to take a big hit. Then we all hunkered down and stayed at home. When we shopped for groceries we emptied meat cases, bought real meat, and weathered COVID.

In that time beef demand rose and the search for recipes to cook at home surged. Also, people tried some alternative protein products and found as I did the stuff tastes terrible. This is where the good news starts to show up. How many of you have ever made a salad out of your grass clippings? I would bet very few to none of you have ever experimented with trying to eat the forage utilized by cattle, pigs, and chickens.

Beef cattle are masters of upcycling. They turn sunshine, water and grasses into a healthy, tasty food product enjoyed by humans across the planet. For the most part, the forage cattle eat is grown on lands unsuitable for crop farming because of poor soils, steep terrain, insufficient rain, and other factors, but is otherwise suitable for grazing livestock. It is true crops such as corn are fed to cattle, but this is done for a short period of their life. Furthermore, all of the cropland devoted to producing this kind of feed is a small fraction of the arable land in the United States.

While beef demand and purchases of other real meats was rising Burger King and other restaurant companies discontinued or stopped promoting alternatives and the early highs seen in the share prices of these companies fell dramatically. Also, large layoffs of employees of some of these companies have recently been publicized. Not only were customers turned off by the taste but efforts to publicize how animals are humanely grown and processed were becoming more transparent.

I've written some of this before. Much of what's in this column comes from research and education materials produced by the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association in its role as a contractor using beef checkoff funds from producers. To me this organization and other contractors play a vital role in telling the true story of beef production which in turn helps to drive demand for the product higher.

When you buy a pound of ground beef it contains one ingredient - beef. When you buy a pound of ground plant protein made to seem like beef or a pound of product grown in a factory lab from beef cells, you have a package in your hands containing many, many ingredients.

The process to grow that product takes much electricity, the transport of these ingredients or the components of those ingredients and flavor additives to create a real beef taste experience which always misses the mark. I know this because I have tried some of these composite products and with the addition of excessive amounts of sodium they still taste like hot cardboard.

Recently, I went to a local supermarket that has consistently quality meat and chicken. We were having family visiting from out of town and I wanted to speed up the grilling season start. I went to a middle aisle meat case and picked out a large roast to put in my smoker. The case was about ten or twelve feet long and four feet wide with a capability of accessing from both sides. In one side at the end of the case for a dimension of four by one foot was some alternative meat product made from plants. There were soybeans, chick peas, sweet potatoes and various spices, emulsifiers and chemicals listed on the ingredient label that were unfamiliar to me.

One might conclude, as an advocate for high quality real meat based upon the above problems I see with the alternative products, there is nothing for a person engaged in animal agriculture to worry about. Companies cannot compete on taste. The animals are raised in a healthy environment utilizing otherwise unpalatable forages humans cannot use for most of their lives. The environment is not suffering from grazing cattle. In fact, proper grazing helps to fix carbon storage into the soils of the earth so the net effect of grazing animals is positive.

The creation of plant-based meat alternatives or lab grown meat from similar genetic material as from real animals is labor and resource intensive with no particular benefit to the issue of climate change and is quite possibly a real harm to our environment. Be mindful, even with recent successes in this sector in favor of animal agriculture there are entities who want you to go out of business.

I’ll see you soon.

Beef Quality Assurance: Raising The Bar On Raising Cattle

The beef community has a long-standing commitment to caring for their animals and providing families with the safest, highest-quality beef possible. Beef Quality Assurance (BQA) is a program that trains farmers and ranchers on best practice cattle management techniques to ensure their animals and the environment are cared for within a standard set of guidelines across the U.S. beef industry.

Simply put, BQA helps beef farmers and ranchers raise better beef so consumers can feel even better about buying it. But it’s not always that simple, of course. Raising quality beef requires commitment and hard work. Certification is earned, not bought. For beef farmers and ranchers, that means using modern techniques to raise cattle under optimal environmental and economic conditions. For consumers, it means knowing the beef they buy is wholesome and delicious. In fact, more than 85% of U.S. beef comes from BQA-certified farmers and ranchers.

Beef Quality Assurance is better for cattle, better for ranchers, and better for people who appreciate beef’s place in a healthy, sustainable diet. To earn BQA certification, beef farmers and ranchers can take courses online or attend in-person trainings taught by a network of hundreds of state BQA coordinators and trainers. This voluntary program is an example of how the beef community is committed to raising cattle safely, humanely and sustainably. A BQA advisory group is made up of farmers, ranchers, veterinarians, cattle nutritionists, animal and meat scientists, animal welfare experts and industry stakeholders to evaluate and make recommended changes or updates to the program as needed. BQA certification should be renewed every three years.

To earn your BQA certificate, or to renew your certification, head to www.bqa.org.

Mason Jar Taco Salads

Shake up your lunch routine! Mason Jar Salads are a convenient way to meal prep a healthy lunch right in a portable to-go container. They're fun, delicious, and very customizable. Here's our take on this DIY "fast food" salad idea; a protein-packed tex-mex version that will keep you satisfied and energized until dinner.

1 Tbsp. olive oil

¾ cup red onion finely diced

1 lb. lean ground beef

Taco Seasoning Mix:

1 ½ Tbsp. cumin

1 ½ tsp. paprika

1 tsp. chili powder

¾ tsp. salt

½ tsp. pepper

⅛ tsp. cayenne pepper

DIRECTIONS:

Mason Jar Taco Salads:

¼ cup salsa medium

¼ cup ranch dressing*

1 cup whole kernel corn rinsed and drained

1 cup black beans rinsed and drained

1 cup tomatoes finely diced

½ cup cheddar cheese* shredded

1 large avocado cut into ½-inch cubes

4 cups mixed greens

20 corn tortilla chips crushed

In a large skillet over medium heat add olive oil and chopped red onion. Saute for 3-4 minutes or until almost cooked through. Push onions to the side and add lean ground beef. Saute for 7-8 minutes or until cooked through. While beef is cooking mix together cumin, paprika, chili powder, salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper in a small bowl.

Once ground beef is done cooking, turn off heat and add seasoning ingredients. Mix to combine. Using a potato masher or the back of your fork, crumble the ground beef to your desired consistency.

In a small bowl whisk together the salsa and ranch.

In four 24-oz. wide mouth mason jars add equal amounts of the salsa-ranch, ground beef mixture, corn, beans, tomatoes, and cheese. Store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

The morning before serving, add ¼ of the avocado, 1 cup of greens, and crushed corn tortilla chips.* www.nevadabeef.org www.mybeefcheckoff.org

Shake mason jar well before pouring contents into a large salad bowl to enjoy.

*Use dairy-free Ranch dressing and cheese for a dairy-free taco salad recipe.

**Bring the tortilla chips and avocado separately to maintain the most freshness.

***If you want to have warm ground beef on your salad simply empty out the contents on the top and then heat up the ground beef and taco salad dressing just before serving.