News Update
Feb. 25, 2011

29th National Beef Cook-Off Seeks America’s Winning Recipes

This year, the 29th National Beef Cook Off®, funded in part by the beef checkoff, is kicking off a recipe contest for everyday home cooks and entertaining enthusiasts nationwide. From now through April 30, 2011, consumers can submit their best beef recipes online at www.beefcookoff.org for a chance to win $25,000 cash and a trip to the Metropolitan Cooking & Entertaining Show in Washington, D.C.

“Rather than hosting a cooking competition, this year, we are conducting a national search to find the best beef recipes home cooks have to offer,” says Sherry Hill, Cook-Off program manager. “We’re excited to offer four unique contest categories that demonstrate beef’s versatility and encourage creativity with a variety of ingredients, cuts and preparation methods.”

Great taste, ease of preparation, originality and use of broadly appealing ingredients are a winning combination for recipe entries. And, best of all, home cooks can increase their chances of winning by submitting multiple recipes in all four of the following contest categories:

• The 5:30 p.m. Dinner Crunch — This category will focus on easy-to-prepare beef recipes for busy weeknight meals using ingredients commonly on hand at home.
• Retro Recipes Revived — For this category, home cooks can improve and modify an American classic or old-time family favorite recipe to be more convenient, healthier, or both for today’s busy families.
• Fuel Up with Beef — Recipes in this category will feature convenient and healthy beef recipes using one of the 29 Lean Beef Cuts for people with busy lives.
• Stir Crazy Solutions — Home cooks won’t go stir-crazy when they have a chance to create a unique stir-fry recipe using one of the 29 Lean Beef Cuts along with fresh vegetables and grain ingredients.

Four category winners (one per category) will receive $3,000 in cash on or about July 15, 2011. One grand prizewinner will receive $25,000 plus an all-expense paid trip to the Metropolitan Cooking & Entertaining Show in Washington D.C., Nov. 5, 2011, where they will be announced as the grand prizewinner. Their winning recipe will also be demonstrated on the show floor for attendees to enjoy.

To view the complete contest rules and explore winning recipes from past contests, visit www.beefcookoff.org.

For more information about programs funded with your beef checkoff investment, visit MyBeefCheckoff.com.

— Release by the Beef Checkoff Program.

AMI Animal Welfare Committee Briefs Capitol Hill During D.C. Meeting This Week

The American Meat Institute (AMI) Animal Welfare Committee this week briefed Capitol Hill staffers as part of an effort to educate policymakers about regulatory requirements, voluntary initiatives and progress in animal handling. The briefing was planned in connection with the committee’s annual winter meeting.

AMI’s Animal Welfare Committee hosted a Capitol Hill Staff Briefing Feb. 23 in Washington, D.C., in connection with the committee’s annual winter meeting. The Committee posed for a photo in the House Agriculture Committee Hearing Room.  

Committee Chairman Len Huskey, director of animal welfare at JBS, offered attendees an overview of the Institute’s animal welfare initiatives, including its 20-year-old partnership with Temple Grandin, professor of animal behavior at Colorado State University and its decision to treat animal welfare as a non-competitive issue.

Grandin delivered a lively overview of AMI’s animal welfare audit and detailed the significant improvements she has made in animal welfare in the last few decades. She said that 1999 was the “tipping point” when major customers like McDonald’s began requiring that their suppliers use the AMI guidelines and audit.

Former Committee Chairs Mike Siemens, director of animal welfare at Cargill, and Glee Goodner, corporate manager of animal welfare at Hormel Foods, discussed the industry’s use of remote video auditing, the relationship between good animal welfare and meat quality and some of the challenges on the horizon.

An American Veterinary Medical Association staff member who attended the briefing blogged about the experience: http://www.externsonthehill.com/?p=359.

— Release by AMI.

New Tag Requirements in Effect For Some Kentucky Breeding Cattle

More than 150,000 breeding cattle 18 months and older pass through Kentucky’s stockyards each year. Because of the need for traceability where disease is concerned, all these cattle must be identified with the state veterinarian’s office. 

“We have a need for traceability,” said Michelle Arnold, extension veterinarian for the University of Kentucky (UK) College of Agriculture. “With classic diseases like brucellosis and tuberculosis, emerging diseases like bovine spongiform encephalitis and the potential for foreign animal diseases such as foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), we have to be able to follow cattle through the sale process back to the farm of origin.”

The new requirements went into effect in mid-February and state that cattle must have official ear tags, which are available from the state veterinarian’s office.

Staffs of the state veterinarian’s office and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) area veterinarian’s office are working cooperatively with market veterinarians and stockyard management to implement the requirement. The state veterinarian’s office acted in advance of federal traceability requirements for interstate movement of livestock that are expected to be published this spring.

“When disease is identified in Kentucky cattle, it is important to identify affected and exposed animals as quickly as possible and with a minimum of cost and inconvenience to producers,” said Robert Stout, Kentucky’s state veterinarian. “This requirement will make it easier for the Office of the State Veterinarian to pinpoint outbreaks and eradicate them while unaffected producers can carry on with business as usual.”

Arnold said that the requirement could actually be a benefit for producers and offer them better market access. Since Congress did not fund the National Animal Identification System (NAIS), Kentucky’s requirement fills a gap and ensures that breeding cattle older than 18 months will have a traceable identification number.

“Veterinarians, markets and producers will be able to obtain the tags,” Arnold said. “If cattle arrive at the stockyards with official tags, those tags won’t be removed and no new tags will be added. However, if cattle arrive at the stockyards without tags, they’ll receive either the most commonly used metal ear tag approved by the U.S. Department of Agriculture or an RFID tag in the 840 series or stamped with a USDA shield.”

The tags will be scanned and the state veterinarian’s office will hold all the scanned information and only access it to trace an animal for disease tracking purposes.

Arnold said plans are to develop a bidirectional link from the UK Veterinary Diagnostic Lab to the Office of the State Veterinarian via the KDA-USAHERDS database.

“Hopefully, as the program proves successful, it will gain more funding for technology updates and staff support,” Arnold said.

Additional information about animal disease traceability is available at http://animaldiseasetraceability.com; http://animalagriculture.org under the Information and Hot Topics tabs and http://usaha.org/committees/id/id.shtml.

Direct questions and concerns to Arnold at Michelle.Arnold@uky.edu.

— Release by UK College of Agriculture.

Website Helps Farmers Engage With Consumers, Media

As harsh winter weather gripped much of the nation recently, lifestyle celebrity and media personality Martha Stewart posted a message on Twitter voicing concern about the plight of farm animals. The tweet presented an opportunity for the agriculture community to communicate with a diverse audience about why most livestock and poultry farmers today choose to raise animals indoors.

Encouraging farmers to use such a forum to connect with a population that has little understanding of today’s food system is the goal of a new web-based resource from the Center for Food Integrity (CFI). It’s called the Farmer Resource Center, and it offers a variety of tools and advice to farmers and others in the food system interested in engaging with peers and the media on food related topics.

“Our research tells us consumers are increasingly turning to online sources for information about the food system,” said Jim Fallon, representing CFI. “But they also receive information from friends and family, their local TV station, newspapers, and radio, as well. This site offers tools and advice for farmers and food system leaders to use to engage with consumers via all of these sources.”

The website serves as a central online resource for people wanting to correct misinformation or just join the national conversation on food-related topics. The site offers messaging, materials, and best practices for engaging with consumers.

The site also features a Social Media Help Desk that offers social media support and assistance. The Help Desk can be reached directly at 877-402-4CFI (4234) or at helpdesk@foodintegrity.org. Visitors will find assistance in responding to news articles or setting up online tools, such as blogs and Facebook pages.

“We encourage everyone in the food system to monitor local sources of information and be ready to make your voice heard,” said Fallon. “When there are inaccuracies, be prepared to tell your story and present truthful information so consumers can see another side of the story.”

— Release by CFI.

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