Guide Line Review
"YUM-M-M, THAT BEEF TASTES SO GOOD . . ."
The National Cattlemen's Beef Association hosted Rocky Mountain Guides Association members for the January 9, 2012, meeting at NCBA headquarters, Centennial, CO.
Daren Williams, Executive Director, NCBA Communications, was our speaker for the meeting. He was joined and assisted by Dan Sullivan from the NCBA Communications Staff. In addition to the program, we were treated to and enjoyed delicious refreshments, including beef hors d'oeuvres, complements of NCBA.
NCBA and its state affiliate organizations have more than 230,000 members. In addition to the main office in Colorado, the organization also has an office and staff in Washington, D.C. Government relations responsibilities are funded through a membership dues structure. Consumer education, beef promotion, and product development, food safety, and related activities are financed by an in-vestment of $1/head paid by the sellers each time cattle are sold in the United States. This marketing investment is called the "Beef Check-Off". A portion of the Beef Check-Off funds finance appropriate state-level programs.
Daren identified the various members of the beef community and the important contribution each makes in providing consumers with a nutritious, wholesome, and tasty steak or burger. Approximately 25% of U.S. land area is classified as grassland, pasture land, or rangeland. Cattle are one of the few animals which can utilize these forage resources. It is this land which is home to the mother cows which are the foundation of the beef community. These family-owned cow-calf ranches and farms are where the calves are born. The calves thrive on a combination of their mothers' milk and grass until weaning at around eight months of age, average weight about 500 pounds.
The castrated bull calves, called steers, and about two-thirds of the female calves, called heifers, are often sold soon after weaning with the next stop being a family farm or ranch referred to as a "stocker" or "backgrounder" operation. Retained heifer calves will become replacement females in the cow herd. The stocker or backgrounder is a farm or ranch with available forage resources that will allow the calves to gain weight while continuing the process of converting grass to protein. On the High Plains, the stocker may be a wheat farmer who allows calves to graze the winter wheat in early spring, being sure to remove the cattle in a timely manner so the wheat crop can resume its growth.
The cattle are then sold or moved to feedyards where they receive a carefully balanced grain-based diet. They will be in the feedyard for 120 - 180 days. As ruminant animals, cattle are capable of utilizing a variety of feeds including by-products from food processing, beer brewing, and ethanol production. All of these sources are utilized in feedyards along with grain. The typical feedyard provides 125 - 250 square feet per animal.
Important facts:
* 97% of all beef cattle farms and ranches in the U.S. are family-owned and operated. More than half have been in the same family for three generations or more.
* U.S. has 7% of the world's cattle but produces 20% of the world's beef. This is an important measure of efficiency.
* According to the United Nations, world population is expected to double in the next 40 years. In the same period, world agriculture will be challenged to produce as much food as has been produced from the start of cultivated agriculture to the present.
* Antibiotics are used sparingly in cattle production to treat an illness or as a preventative at a time of stress when animals may be especially susceptible to illness.
* Hormone replacement in neutered males is a carefully controlled application resulting in no residue in the muscle tissue. The hormones are totally utilized by the animal before going to market.
* Temple Grandin, world-renowed professor of animal science at Colorado State University, has greatly influenced the handling of cattle in the U.S. through her work in designing livestock facilities.
* There are farmers, ranchers, and processors willing to accommodate every consumer demand including the typical combination of grass/grain-fed beef, or alternatives such as all grass-fed, organic, and dry-aged. Some of these methods are less efficient and may require a higher price if the product is to be available.
* 96% of Americans include beef in their diet.
* A 3-oz.serving of lean beef contains 154 calories while being an excellent source of a protein, vitamins and minerals.
* The sale of cattle and calves accounts for approximately 45% of farm and ranch income in Colorado with wheat at about 30% of the income. Colorado ranks 10th among the states in total cattle numbers, 4th in feedlot marketings.
* A number of questions were asked by those attending.
-- Larry Ralston
National Cattleman's Beef Association
WHEN: Monday January 9, 2012 6:30pm Networking 7:00pm Program
WHERE: National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA), 9110 East Nichols Ave, Centennial, CO 80112
PROGRAM: Daren Williams, Executive Director, NCBA Communications, will provide an overview of the beef industry and its various segments from the ranch to the table. He will also explain the many areas in which the association functions to represent this, the largest segment of American agriculture.
The Beef Industry is the largest part of American agriculture. At our January 9 meeting we will learn about the various segments of the industry starting with the ranch or farm which is home to the herds of mother cows, the stocker, the feedlot operator, seedstock producer, packing plant, processor, retailer and restaurant. The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association works with all these stakeholders to provide a consumer preferred product produced in an environmentally sustainable manner.
NCBA is involved in consumer education, product promotion, environmental advocacy, food safety, producer education, and government relations. You may remember their “Beef, It’s What’s for Dinner” advertising campaign from a few years ago. One of the current producer education efforts is a one hour weekly television program “Cattlemen to Cattlemen” broadcast on RFD-TV (channel 345 on Direct TV) produced locally by NCBA.
It all started right here, when two members of the Livestock Committee of the Denver Chamber of Commerce and Trade Board called a National Stock Growers Convention January 25-27, 1898, Denver, Colorado. More than 2,000 convention attendees heard three days of discussion on interstate trade, public lands and packer trusts. However, the main order of business at the first convention was the formation of the National Live Stock Association (NLSA) of the United States.
Through three mergers, numerous organizational splits, economic busts, natural disasters, world wars, changing political views and evolving consumer wants, the National Cattleman's Beef Association has persevered as the voice of the American beef industry. Today the Association represents more than 230,000 members of the national organization and its state affiliates. These members are reponsible for approximately 90% of U.S. beef production.
IKEA has been a major attraction since it opened in July. Our January 9th meeting is just a few blocks west of the store. If you have an interest in or craving to shop Ikea, plan ahead and come early. There is a restaurant inside the store with a limited inexpensive menu. Browse a bit and get a bite to eat, than head over to the RMGA meeting. As you head west from the interstate there are directional signs for Ikea along County Line Road. Just stay in the right lane and follow the signs.