News Update
May 24, 2011

Last Call for Registration to the Beef Improvement Federation Convention

Tomorrow, May 25, is the deadline for online registration to the Beef Improvement Federation (BIF) Annual Meeting and Research Symposium, June 1-4 in Bozeman, Mont. If you have not already registered, go to http://www.bifconference.com and click the registration button to register for this important event.

After May 25, online registration will be closed. On-site registration will be available, but the registration fee increases to $250.

For questions on registration, contact the MSU Conference Service at 406-994-3333 or stephanie.stratton@montana.edu.

Smartphones and Steaks

Unless you purchased your steak from the farmer down the road, it can be hard to tell exactly where it came from, even if the sticker on the package says local. Thanks to a new pilot program being conducted at Michigan State University (MSU), though, the day may soon be approaching where a quick barcode scan with your smartphone could tell you the exact animal and farm where your steak originated.

In 2007, Michigan adopted a mandatory livestock tracing program — the only one of its kind in the country — requiring that all cattle have a radio frequency identification (RFID) ear tag before leaving their original farm. The tags are designed to track the movement of Michigan’s cattle herd and provide animal health officials with a tool to trace an individual animal back to where it was born. Now that the mandatory tracking system has been in place for four years, MSU researchers want to continue improving the system by continuing the traceability of information beyond just the processor.

“We want to be able to trace individual animals from the farm to the plate,” said MSU animal science associate professor Dan Buskirk. “By translating RFID ear tags to a barcode, pieces or packages of beef can be labeled with that code, tracing it back to the farm and the individual animal.”

Buskirk, who has been working with the Michigan RFID program since its inception, was looking for a way to expand its value when fellow animal science assistant professor Jason Rowntree began working on a new project to utilize MSU-raised beef cattle in MSU restaurants and cafeterias. It quickly became clear that MSU Culinary Services, a department of MSU Residential and Hospitality Services, a partner in the project that oversees the food products used throughout campus, was interested in not only locally sourced beef, but also the potential for full traceability of beef from the farm to the plate.

“There is not currently a commonly accepted definition for the word ‘local,’ so when something is labeled and marketed as ‘local,’ one can’t be sure what ‘local’ means. It could mean a certain number of miles from a given store or could indicate it originated elsewhere in the state or even in a multistate area,” he added. “What we’re trying to do is to be able to not only say it’s ‘local,’ but to prove it’s local.”

The pilot for the local beef project will also serve as the pilot program for Buskirk and his team to begin putting the pieces in place to track beef all the way to the consumer. He is working with small- and medium-sized food processors to perfect the technology and identify any challenges for implementing it. Coordinating the barcode with the multitude of products that can come from a single animal appears to be one of the biggest hurdles they face.

“Besides just tracking a single animal from birth to harvest, there can be up to 500 packages of meat in a single beef carcass, so trying to track that volume has a whole different set of issues,” Buskirk explained. “That’s what this pilot project is going to help us do — refine the technology and refine the methods we use to be able to track beef through the entire system.”

The researchers hope consumers will be able to scan the barcode at a kiosk in the grocery store or by using a smartphone application (app). The code would then link the consumer to information about the farm of origin, its management practices and similar types of information.

“I think the consumer benefits because they currently look at a package that says local and they don’t know what that really means. How local is it? Where did it really come from?” Buskirk asked. “With what we’re doing, they can see exactly where the beef came from, exactly what farming practices were used on the farm, and maybe even see a picture of that farm and some of the things that are currently happening there.”

And consumers won’t be the only ones benefitting.

“Smaller (livestock) producers have done a lot of good things in terms of beef quality assurance, developing and adopting cutting-edge production methods and observing really good solid management practices, but they don’t have a good way, necessarily, to let consumers know about this unless they’re marketing beef directly to a consumer as freezer beef or marketing it at a local farmers’ market,” Buskirk said.

“When farmers don’t deal directly one-on-one with the consumer, they really lose touch with the consumer and can’t pass this type of information on,” he added. “Even though farmers still wouldn’t have personal contact with consumers, the traceability method we propose would give them a chance to share this information and allow consumers an opportunity to know exactly what farming practices were used and how the animal was raised. That has not been traditionally possible, at this scale, in the past.”

— Release by MSU.

Three-Day Trip Set for Iowa Beef Producers

A three-day trip to southwest Iowa and eastern Nebraska offers Iowa beef producers the opportunity to tour innovative beef operations and visit with successful producers and cutting-edge researchers. Iowa State University (ISU) Extension beef program specialist Joe Sellers said stops at the Armstrong Research Farm in Cass County, University of Nebraska–Lincoln (UNL) and the USDA’s Meat Animal Research Center (USMARC) near Clay Center, Neb., will provide current information on research being conducted at those locations.

Registration fee for the tour is $100 per person, which includes bus travel from and to Chariton, and lunch each of the three days. Lodging and other meals are not included, and checks will be held until the minimum number of 40 paid attendees is reached. If interest is strong among producers along the route, other pick-up locations will be arranged.

Sellers said that while the agenda is a busy one, producers will learn a great deal at both the stops and through conversations with others.

“The first day we travel to the Armstrong Farm near Lewis for discussions on cattle age, source verification, hoop buildings and retained ownership,” he said. “After lunch we head to UNL where we’ll visit with staff about research efforts in Nebraska before heading to Hastings for the first overnight.”

The next day’s tentative schedule includes tour stops at Gotsch Feedyards at Red Cloud, S&S Herefords at Guide Rock and the Herz confined deep-bedded beef barn at Lawrence. The final day includes a tour, discussion and lunch at USMARC, located between Hastings and Clay Center, before heading back to Chariton.

For more information contact Sellers by email at sellers@iastate.edu or by phone at 641-203-1270.

— Release by ISU.

AMI Says World Cancer Research Fund’s Claims are Unfounded

The American Meat Institute (AMI) Monday said that World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) recommendations to limit red and processed meat intake should be met with skepticism, as they are not supported by the full evidence and they conflict with the U.S. Dietary Guidelines, which say that red and processed meat can be a healthy part of a balanced diet. 

WCRF’s original 2007 report was based upon very weak findings and many contradictions, and was questioned by many groups, including the International Agency for Research on Cancer. Now, WCRF has added 10 similarly weak studies into the mix. 

“While WCRF is claiming these studies strengthen their recommendations, in reality, they simply increase the report’s shortcomings,” said AMI Foundation President James Hodges. “Adding more weak studies to a weak report does not make a ‘strong, comprehensive and authoritative report’ as they claim.” He noted that a close look at the 10 additional studies that were added to the 14 analyzed as part of WCRF’s 2007 report show no strong evidence of any increased risk of bowel/colorectal cancer.

“Given the weak, scientific underpinnings of this report and the fact that Americans are consuming the proper amount of red and processed meats according to government data, Americans should follow common sense, which says a balanced diet with exercise is best,” said AMI. “The headlines on today’s press release are little more than warmed-over recommendations from a report that was widely critiqued in 2007.”

According to the latest government data, Americans consume red and processed meat at levels recommended by the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2010, the basis for our national nutritional policy published by the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services and Agriculture. In fact, the protein group is the only group that is consumed in the proper amount, the guidelines show.

“While recommendations to eat a balanced diet aren’t exciting headline grabbers, they adhere to both science and common sense,” Hodges said. “The wisest course of action anyone can take is to maintain a healthy body weight, exercise and consume a balanced diet that includes a variety of foods consistent with our national nutritional policy outlined in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.”

— Release by AMI.

USDA Revises Recommended Cooking Temperature for All Whole Meats

The USDA is updating its recommendation for safely cooking pork, steaks, roasts and chops. USDA recommends cooking all whole cuts of meat to 145° F as measured with a food thermometer placed in the thickest part of the meat, then allowing the meat to rest for three minutes before carving or consuming.

This change does not apply to ground meats, including ground beef, veal, lamb and pork, which should be cooked to 160° F and do not require a rest time. The safe cooking temperature for all poultry products, including ground chicken and turkey, remains at 165° F.

“With a single temperature for all whole cuts of meat and uniform three-minute stand time, we believe it will be much easier for consumers to remember and result in safer food preparation,” said Undersecretary Elisabeth Hagen. “Now there will only be three numbers to remember: 145 for whole meats, 160 for ground meats and 165 for all poultry.”

USDA is lowering the recommended safe cooking temperature for whole cuts of pork from 160° F to 145° F and adding a three-minute rest time. The safe temperature for cuts of beef, veal and lamb remains unchanged at 145° F, but the department is adding a three-minute rest time as part of its cooking recommendations. Cooking raw pork, steaks, roasts and chops to 145° F with the addition of a three-minute rest time will result in a product that is both microbiologically safe and at its best quality.

A “rest time” is the amount of time the product remains at the final temperature, after it has been removed from a grill, oven or other heat source. During the three minutes after meat is removed from the heat source, its temperature remains constant or continues to rise, which destroys pathogens. USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has determined that it is just as safe to cook cuts of pork to 145° F with a three-minute rest time as it is to cook them to 160° F with no rest time. The new cooking suggestions reflect the same standards that the agency uses for cooked meat products produced in federally inspected meat establishments, which rely on the rest time of three minutes to achieve safe pathogen reduction.

Appearance in meat is not a reliable indicator of safety or risk. Only by using a food thermometer can consumers determine if meat has reached a sufficient temperature to destroy pathogens of public health concern. Any cooked, uncured red meats — including pork — can be pink, even when the meat has reached a safe internal temperature.

For more information on meat safety, consumers can “Ask Karen,” FSIS’ virtual food safety representative, at AskKaren.gov or m.AskKaren.gov (Mobile Ask Karen) on your smartphone. The USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline (1-888MPHotline) has food safety experts available Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. EST (English or Spanish). Check out the FSIS website at www.fsis.usda.gov. Email questions can be answered by MPHotline.fsis@usda.gov.

— Release by USDA.

Custom Agricultural Rate Survey Results Available Online

The Texas AgriLife Extension Service has published online a survey of regional and state rates charged for custom agricultural operations.

“Each year, AgriLife Extension receives many requests for prevailing rates for certain kinds of work and custom farm or machine operations,” said Steven Klose, AgriLife Extension economist in College Station. “This is an update of information that has been used extensively over the years.”

To view rates for various custom operations, visit http://agecoext.tamu.edu/.

The online publication is 34 pages. It includes data on tractor rental, tillage operations, planting operations, application of fertilizer and lime, chemicals-cotton harvesting, peanut harvesting, hauling and drying, combining and hauling grains, haying and silage operations, land preparation, brush control, other farm and ranch operations, miscellaneous livestock operations, and consulting services.

In January, a survey was distributed to select farmers, ranchers and landowners across the state. The results of the survey helped establish a “baseline of rates statewide and further assist with questions inquiring about specific custom-hire activities,” Klose said.
“This data provides market information where information would otherwise be limited,” Klose said.

“This will help individuals by providing a range of rates for different services whether you are using or providing those services in your area.”

— Release by Blair Fannin, AgriLife Today.

— Compiled by Katie Gazda and Shauna Rose Hermel, Angus Productions Inc.