Rotating Article
for: Week of July 1, 2002
by: John D. Atkins
Extension Agronomy/Livestock Agent
Santa Rosa County
WHERE’S THE BEEF?
This
article is reprinted with permission from the “New Horizons,” the official
magazine of the National FFA Organization.
Hold
on tight. This may come as a shock. The evidence is shaky, but rumor has it
that the hamburger-that all-beef patty on a bun so synonymous with American
cuisine-may not have originated on U.S. soil.
Indeed,
the current consensus is that a culinary wizard in Hamburg, Germany, invented
this grillable sandwich in the 1800s, long before the backyard barbecue invaded
American culture. But another theory is also up for debate. Historical
documents show that the domestication of cattle for food dates all the way back
to 6500 B.C. in the Middle East.
The
question is this: If an ancient farmer was innovative enough to kick off the
beef industry more than 8,000 years ago, isn’t it also fair to assume he had
the wits to slap a chunk of meat between two pieces of bread and call it a
meal?
On
the rise
Either
way, in the 21st century, beef in all its various forms-from
meatballs to strip steaks to the hamburger-has taken America by storm. Chew on
this: According to the United States Department of Agriculture, the average
American eats more than 60 pounds of beef
per year. The U.S. beef cattle
industry, to meet that demand as well as that of hungry consumers elsewhere in
the world, processes more than 25 billion pounds of beef annually.
And
statistics show that consumer demand for beef is now, for the first time in two
decades, on the rise. “The beef industry is finally starting to turn the
corner,” says Lynn Cornwell, president of the National Cattlemen’s Beef
Association. “The future looks more promising than ever.”
That’s
good news if you’re a cattle rancher. It’s also good news if you’re involved in
any of the many other stages of beef production, whether as a feedlot operator,
a beef processor or, for that matter, a large-animal veterinarian.
From
field to filet mignon
The
production process is fairly straightforward.
All beef cattle-major breeds include Angus, Hereford, Charolais, and
Brahman-begin life in the field. They munch grass, drink milk and generally
live blissfully free of any worldly concerns, unaware that each pound they put
on brings them that much closer to market.
Many
cattle continue grazing right to the end, roaming free on large plots of land
and fattening up just as fast as their appetites permit. The majority, however,
are sold and “finished” in feedlots. That is, they’re shipped from the fields
to fenced-in pens where, along with hundreds or thousands of other cattle,
they’re fed grain specially formulated to pack on the pounds in a short period
of time. Feedlot operators bring the
cattle up to market weight, then sell them to packers for processing. From there
the meat is inspected for quality and shipped to retailers and foodservice
operators, who in turn put on the finishing touches before the beef is sold to
consumers. The entire process takes years, but the end result is the same:
Rare, medium or well done.
Great
expectations
According
to those in the industry, the goal is to increase consumer demand for beef by
an additional six percent in the next several years. That’s a lot of burgers,
but experts like Shelle Taylor, executive director of the American National
Cattle Women, Inc., an organization that serves as the voice for women in the
U.S. beef cattle industry, believe anything is possible. Especially, that is, with the right
attitude.
John
Atkins is Agronomy/Livestock Agent for Santa Rosa County.
Extension
Service programs are open to all people without regard to race, color, sex,
age,
handicap or national origin.