News Update
December 16, 2011
Study Confirms Beef’s Role
in a Heart-Healthy Diet
In a first of its kind study, researchers at Pennsylvania State University demonstrated that eating beef every day as part of a heart-healthy diet can improve cholesterol levels. Texas medical doctor and cattleman Richard Thorpe said the “Beef in an Optimal Lean Diet” (BOLD) study proves what he has known for years — lean beef not only tastes great, but it also plays an important role in a heart-healthy diet.
“As a father, medical doctor and beef producer, I have proudly and confidently served my family beef and have recommended it to my patients for years,” Thorpe said on behalf of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA). “The BOLD study is further proof that Americans should feel good knowing the beef they enjoy eating and serving their loved ones is not only a nutrient-rich, satisfying food that provides 10 essential nutrients in about 150 calories, but is good for their heart health, as well.”
The BOLD study, which was funded by the beef checkoff, will appear in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in January. The study followed 36 men and women with moderately elevated cholesterol levels who consumed four diets for five weeks each to measure the impact of each diet on heart health risk factors, such as LDL (bad) cholesterol levels. The four diets evaluated were BOLD, which included an average of 4 ounces (oz.) of beef per day; BOLD-PLUS, which included an average of 5.4 oz. of beef per day; the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet, which included an average of an ounce of beef per day; and the Healthy American Diet (HAD), which included an average of 0.7 oz. of beef per day.
Subjects following the BOLD and BOLD-PLUS diets experienced a 10% decrease in LDL cholesterol from the start of the study. Further, according to the study’s outcomes, after five weeks, there were significant reductions in total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol in the BOLD, BOLD-PLUS and DASH diets compared to the HAD.
“This research adds to the body of evidence concluding that there are heart-health benefits to including lean beef in your daily diet,” said Shalene McNeill, executive director, human nutrition research for NCBA, which is a contractor for the beef checkoff. “The BOLD study provides strong evidence that including daily lean beef in the gold-standard DASH diet has heart health benefits.”
McNeill said the BOLD and BOLD-PLUS diets are easy to follow as many recipes used in the BOLD study were from The Healthy Beef Cookbook, which includes a collection of healthy beef recipes.
“As families across the country prepare their holiday meals this month, lean beef is a perfect fit,” McNeill said. “Americans should feel confident putting beef on their dinner table knowing that it is part of the solution to building a nutrient-rich, well-balanced and heart-healthy diet.”
United States Cattle on Feed Up 4%
Cattle and calves on feed for slaughter market in the United States for feedlots with capacity of 1,000 or more head totaled 12.1 million head Dec. 1, 2011. The inventory was 4% above Dec. 1, 2010. This is the second highest Dec. 1 inventory since the series began in 1996.
Placements in feedlots during November totaled 2.04 million, 4% above 2010 figures. Net placements were 1.94 million head. During November, placements of cattle and calves weighing less than 600 pounds (lb.) were 755,000; 600-699 lb. were 499,000; 700-799 lb. were 375,000; and 800 lb. and greater were 410,000.
Marketings of fed cattle during November totaled 1.77 million, slightly below 2010.
Other disappearance totaled 102,000 during November, 65% above 2010 figures.
Washington’s Beef Industry Raises $107,427 for Beef Counts
A single 535-lb. steer generated $31,832 at a fundraising auction Dec. 6, 2011, to benefit Washington’s Beef Counts program. Beef Counts was created by the beef industry to provide nutritious beef to struggling Eastern Washington families through Second Harvest food banks.
The contributions from local cattle ranchers and feeders raised the total beef industry donations for the year to $107,427. The goal of the Beef Counts program is to provide the food bank with a steady supply of beef throughout the year. Launched in 2010, more than 16,500 beef roasts have already reached those in need.
One hundred percent of the tax-deductible Beef Counts donations are used to provide beef to Second Harvest. Without the beef donation, only 4% of the food Second Harvest distributes is protein, which equates to only 0.7 servings of protein per person — far below the USDA recommended 6 oz. of protein per day.
“We feel privileged to participate with the beef producers in Washington in the Beef Counts program,” said Rick Stott, Agri Beef Co. executive vice president. “It is very gratifying to think that from the $107,000 that was raised in 2011, our industry will be able to provide over 200,000 beef meals to neighbors that are struggling to put food on their table. I am continually humbled by the generosity of the beef producers to those that are in need.”
The auction rounded out Beef Counts Week, a series of mobile food distributions across eastern Washington where local farmers and ranchers personally helped hand out the beef roasts to those in need. In just four days, the beef producers distributed 60,354 lb. of beef to 1,555 families in need of food assistance. The events generated tremendous media coverage putting a positive face on Washington’s beef industry.
“Here in eastern Washington, we raise millions of pounds of food, yet one in six of our neighbors go hungry, half of which are children and seniors,” said Larry Olberding, president of the Washington Cattlemen’s Association. “We know everyone needs the protein and nutrition in beef to be healthy and strong. Beef Counts makes it easy for producers to provide beef to those who need it, but are struggling.”
“Often the more valuable the commodity, the less likely it is that it can be provided as just a straight donation,” said Second Harvest President Jason Clark. “I think that is the genius of the Beef Counts program. It makes it possible for people to help, and then we get one of the highest quality proteins you can find out there.”
Beef Counts is a partnership with Second Harvest Inland Northwest, the Washington State Beef Commission, the Washington Cattlemen’s and Cattlewomen’s Association, the Washington Cattle Feeders Association, the Washington Livestock Marketing Association, and Agri Beef Co. Agri Beef Co. donates $50,000 to the program each year and provides the processing, packaging, and shipping of the three-pound beef roasts provided to the food banks.
Anyone can donate to Beef Counts; the public can go to www.beefcounts.org to make a secure, tax-deductible contribution. For more information about Beef Counts or to schedule an interview, please contact the Washington State Beef Commission at 206-444-2902 and visit www.beefcounts.org or www.wabeef.org/beefcounts.
Prescribed Burn Workshops Scheduled
for February and March in Texas
The Academy for Ranch Management will conduct two prescribed burn workshops in 2012 at the Texas AgriLife Research Station near Sonora Feb. 16-18 and March 8-10. The station is located on State Highway 55 between Sonora and Rocksprings.
The first workshop, “Prescribed Burning School,” is a basic course providing information on fire, weather, planning a burn, fuels and fuel moisture, and equipment needed for a controlled burn, according to Ray Hinnant, a Texas AgriLife Research senior research associate in College Station and a workshop presenter.
The “Advanced Prescribed Burning School” builds on the previous school providing more information on fire behavior, fire effects and planning and coordinating a prescribed burn, Hinnant said.
Successful completion of both courses and a passing grade on a comprehensive exam will provide the educational component to begin application to become either a private or commercial certified prescribed burn manager, he said.
The fee for each workshop is $395 and includes meals and on-site lodging. The basic course is a prerequisite for the advanced course. For more information call Hinnant at 979-820-1778, and to register, call Cheryl Yeager at 979-845-5582 or visit www.ranchmanagement.org to download the registration form.
The Academy for Ranch Management is associated with the Center for Grazing and Ranch Management at the department of ecosystems science and management at Texas A&M University in College Station. The Sonora facilities provide a teaching laboratory for hands-on experience, Hinnant said.
The Academy’s primary goal is training ranchers for effective rangeland management, and the focus now is on prescribed burning for rangelands, he said. Prescribed burning is a tool that can be used to manage rangeland vegetation for livestock and wildlife use, and also reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfires by removing hazardous fuel loads.
“2011 has been one of the worst wildfire seasons in our recent past,” Hinnant said. “Nearly 4 million acres of rangeland and forest burned, and over 2,000 homes were lost. Prescribed burning has the potential to significantly reduce the catastrophic losses due to wildfires.”
These courses offer hands-on experience for ranch owners, new landowners and for absentee owners who are several generations removed from the ranch, he said.
Hinnant and Charles “Butch” Taylor, superintendent of the research station at Sonora, are prescribed-burning-board lead instructors. Other speakers during the two courses include Mort Kothmann, department of ecosystems science and management professor, and Nick Garza, an AgriLife Research associate at Sonora.
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