News Update
Oct. 18, 2010

All-New ‘I Am Angus’ Airs Tonight on RFD-TV

Whether you enjoy raising quality beef or just eating it, you’ll want to watch a special, all-new television program airing tonight at 7 p.m. CST (8 p.m. EST) on RFD-TV.

I Am Angus highlights the contributions of America’s ranching industry, with profiles of people from across the country whose lives are defined by Angus cattle and Angus beef.

The hour-long program is the first in a four-part television series developed by the American Angus Association.

The program is set to re-air tomorrow at 9 a.m. (CST), Dish Network, channel 231; DirecTV, channel 345. Read more.

Beef Culinary Center Busy Creating New Recipes

Executive Chef Dave Zino has spent the past nine and a half years creating recipes for the beef checkoff. This past fiscal year, the culinary team of experts has created an astounding 80 new recipes for all checkoff program areas (e.g. nutrition, PR, veal, foodservice, new products). When the Healthy Beef Cookbook was released, that number was much higher, but on average, 75 to 80 new beef recipes are generated each year.

The basic culinary function is to support the checkoff and its program areas. For instance, the checkoff hosted a “Live Well” Event this past June in an effort to engage and mobilize top-tier health professionals and credentialed members of the nutrition media, providing them with new research and tools to incorporate beef nutrition information into their education efforts. As a result of that event, nutrition influencers expressed the need to have more breakfast beef items. Thus, the genesis of some of Zino’s most recent work.

Providing health professional’s clients with more options, Zino and the culinary team went to work to develop six new recipes for breakfast beef. Such concepts include a breakfast burrito (a recipe that is frozen and microwaved for a quick and easy breakfast); make once, dine twice breakfast sandwiches (grilled steaks make great leftovers for a breakfast sandwich); a beef and sweet potato enchilada; a homemade beef sausage for breakfast pizza and a beef turnover.

“Breakfast is a day part we don’t normally think of for beef as an option,” says Zino. “With Burger King introducing nine new breakfast items, we knew we were on the right track with these concepts.”

Over the years, the checkoff has created a database of recipes that serves as a great history to springboard ideas off of and change them to fit the current environment’s needs. The concept is then taken into the kitchen for testing, tasting, double-checking by another tester who acts like the consumer and follows the recipe as written, then sent to the program managers for a formal taste test. Lastly, the recipe is written, edited, a nutritional analysis is done, and in some cases, photographed.

“Our recipe-writing style is very well-respected within the food community,” Dave adds. “It comes down to ingredient order and method order according to what consumers are asking for. This makes for an efficient process where we maximize producer’s checkoff dollars.”

Zino’s team remains focused on streamlined, straightforward recipe development. He says his epiphany was the Healthy Beef Cookbook, where he learned how to develop healthy recipes that are still flavorful.

“There are so many opportunities on the horizon, we just need to capture what the consumer wants and put it on a recipe card,” Zino says. “Beef and new recipes are always top-of-mind. I just hope my work inspires people to love their kitchen and the food that they can create.”

You can tap into Dave’s recipes by signing up for the Beef So Simple e-newsletter, follow Dave on Twitter or find him on Facebook (search for Dave Zino).

For more information about your beef checkoff investment in new products, visit www.MyBeefCheckoff.com or www.BeefInnovationsGroup.com.

— Release by the Beef Checkoff Program.

AgriLife Extension Plans Calving Clinic on Nov. 2 in Miami

Texas AgriLife Extension Service will host the “Improving Beef Reproductive Efficiency: Calving Clinic” Nov. 2 at the Roberts County Project Center in Miami.

“We can make every effort to improve the reproductive efficiency of our cow herd, but it’s all for nothing if we don’t get a live calf on the ground,” said Brandon Dukes, AgriLife Extension agent in Roberts County.

Knowing when cows or heifers need assistance with calving is an extremely important skill producers must possess, Dukes said.

The clinic will include a demonstration of delivery of a calf with emphasis on appropriate timing and proper techniques of intervention to assist calving heifers and cows with dystocia, he said.

The program will begin at 11:30 a.m. with registration, followed by a free lunch sponsored by Cattle County and Hi Pro Feeds. RSVPs are requested on or before Oct. 28.

The program will include Dukes discussing selection for calving ease with Dr. Buddy Faries, AgriLife Extension program leader for veterinary medicine in College Station, conducting the demonstration.

Faries has been conducting these types of presentations for a number of years, and “even if you have pulled 1,000 calves, you are sure to gain some insight into better methods of conducting this task,” Dukes said.

For more information or to RSVP, contact Dukes at 806-868-3191 or bkdukes@ag.tamu.edu.

— Release by Texas AgriLife Extension Service.

NMSU Breaks Ground on Southwest Center for Rangeland Sustainability

More than 60 people — including state officials and community members — came out to support the groundbreaking Sept. 28 of New Mexico State University’s Southwest Center for Rangeland Sustainability near Corona.

Among the guests speaking at the ceremony were NMSU President Barbara Couture; NMSU Board of Regents member Blake Curtis; Scott Shafer, of the Corona advisory board; Rex Wilson, president-elect of the New Mexico Cattle Growers’ Association; and State Representative Dennis Kintigh.

“This facility is going to open up a whole new world of outreach for us,” said Shad Cox, ranch manager of the Corona Range and Livestock Research Center. The new building will be located on the research center’s property. “We’ll have something where at a moment’s notice, we can, in a more timely fashion, bring an educational event to the community and the state of New Mexico.” The center is also intended to provide a rich learning environment for NMSU students.

When completed, the $1.5 million state-funded first phase will consist of indoor and outdoor multiuse meeting/exhibit areas; library/meeting room for outreach activities and student use; offices for the Corona research center, visiting faculty, staff and students; and a kitchen/meal preparation facility. These components will be spread throughout 3,450 square feet of enclosed space and 2,800 square feet of covered porch area.

Because the new facility is centrally located in New Mexico, it has garnered support from many statewide organizations, legislators and local governments, as well as the executive branch of the State of New Mexico. The building will be a venue for centralized meetings for statewide interests, as well as exciting new outreach activities, in a secluded, picturesque rangeland setting.

The center will be located one and one-quarter miles northeast of the Corona research center headquarters, providing students and guests a view of the Gallinas Mountains.

Couture said people will be attracted to the facility and what it has to offer the people of New Mexico.

Couture also said she hoped the training facility would help ranchers learn more about how to continue what many have done for hundreds of years — continue to sustain the land so it remains prosperous.

Also representing NMSU at the event were Ben Woods, senior vice president for external relations; Vimal Chaitanya, vice president of research; Jon Boren, associate dean/director of the Cooperative Extension Service; and Ricardo Rel, assistant vice president for research and senior director for government relations.

Mark Gladden, director of development for the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences, said there are naming opportunities to help provide critically needed furnishings for the new facility while creating a lasting legacy for generous families and individual contributors.

The first phase of the center is expected to be complete in May 2011.

— Release by NMSU.

— Compiled by Mathew Elliott, assistant editor, Angus Productions Inc.