| |
ICA Statement on BPI plant closings
The Iowa Cattlemen’s Association was disappointed to learn late yesterday afternoon that three Beef Products Inc. plants will close later this month as a result of misleading descriptions of the product’s safety in multiple national media sources. Research based facts are a strong piece of the tool kit that producers and members of the food chain use every day to produce safe and nutritious food at an affordable price to the consumer. As a result of the misinformation, the facts in this situation are 220 Iowans losing jobs, and a very strong likelihood for higher priced ground beef and less consumer choice in the grocer’s meat case. The cattle industry applauds meat retailers that used fact-based information to offer choice to the consumer and encouraged consumers to rely on facts, not hype, as they make choices in the future.
ICA selects winner of environmental award
A farm family that raises Angus seedstock and puts most of their farm acres into commercial hay production is the Iowa Cattlemen’s Association’s state winner of the Environ- mental Stewardship Award Program (ESAP). Greg and Lola Wood and their son Chris operate their farm operation, called BitterSweet Acres, near Greenville in Clay County.
As the Iowa ESAP winners, the Wood family has been nominated for recognition at the regional level, which includes four other states. ESAP was initiated by the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, and each year, recognizes seven regional winners and a final national winner. Since its inception in 1991, Iowa cattle producers have won 14 regional awards and three national ones.
One practice that makes BitterSweet Acres stand out in northwest Iowa is that they have maintained forage production on more than 400 acres in the face of increasing pressure to convert to row crops. U.S. Census of Agriculture data for Clay County show that there has been a 60% drop in pasture acres between 1997 and 2007. (That 60% is equal to 54,383 acres.) It’s likely the 2012 Census will show a continued precipitous drop. That’s why farmers who continue to put an emphasis on maintaining pasture and forage production, as BitterSweet Acres has done, increase their environmental value to the state’s natural resources every year.
Read more about the practices used on the Wood farm.
ISU event shines light on LFTB facts
While emotion is likely to always play a role in food issues, on April 10, Iowa State University students put emotion aside to learn about the scientific issues that have been questioned relating to lean, finely textured beef (LFTB).
 Members of ISU’s Block and Bridle Club organized an event that attracted more than 500 students to the Farm Bureau Pavilion in Kildee Hall. Brady McNeil, an animal science major and president of Block and Bridle, said the turn-out was “beyond our expectations.”
The Grand Mound senior (Dec. 2012) opened the event explaining, "We’re all consumers, and we need to know about the food we eat.”
Every speaker at the event emphasized that knowing about your food, and knowing the truth about it was critical. For most people, “the place between cattle in a pasture and that steak or hamburger on your plate is a fuzzy spot,” said Nancy Degner, the executive director of the Iowa Beef Industry Council. It’s up to cattle producers to bring that “fuzzy spot” into focus, she said.
“If we don’t tell the story of food production, others will decide to do that for us,” she said.
Iowa’s Lt. Governor, Kim Reynolds, also called the students into action. “This was launched on social media, and you know more about working in that than we do,” she said. She encouraged the students to use Twitter, YouTube and Facebook to talk about the factual information regarding LFTB, and to use the hashtag "beefisbeef.".
The facts on the LFTB process were delivered by ISU’s Dr. Jim Dickson, a microbiologist in the animal science and meat science departments. “What I found at Beef Products, Inc. is that they are serious about food safety, " he said.
Janet Riley of the American Meat Institute told the ISU students the “we must give the public the full picture, and efforts like these are really helping. I want to thank the student organizers at Iowa State University who cared enough about the rumors on this issue to say ‘ENOUGH.’”
|
|
Coon Bowl 'bowls over' judges to win Iowa's Best Burger contest
The Coon Bowl III, a diner and bowling alley in Coon Rapids, is the home of Iowa’s Best Burger for 2012. The award is made by the Iowa Cattlemen's Association and the Iowa Beef Industry Council.
Three generations of noted cooking skills influenced the burgers, as has the ground beef that comes from the nearby Arcadia Locker. “One of the judges noted the juiciness of the burgers,” said Michelle Baumhover, the coordinator of the contest. “She said she was very appreciative of having the napkin holder right in front of her!”
There are two co-managers of the Coon Bowl, Cindy Heydon and Dan George. George handles much of the grilling at the diner. He comes from a line of good family cooks. “My Grandma (Viva Johnston) was known for the 10-course meals she would serve threshing crews on the family farm,” he said. Her daughter (and Dan’s mother) ran Arlene’s, a Coon Rapids’ restaurant, for 11 years. When she closed the restaurant, Dan headed to the Coon Bowl, and has been flipping burgers and preparing lots of other diner fare for the past 16 years.
The Coon Bowl III uses an 80/20 blend of ground chuck, one of the most popular blends for tasty burgers. George doesn’t add any seasoning unless the customer requests it, so the beef flavor is predominant in the variations served at the diner. Customers are also in charge of asking for any extras, whether that’s “running the burger through a garden” or adding cheese, bacon, or mushrooms as toppings.
Coon Bowl III was selected as a Top Ten entry this year based on customer support. The Coon Bowl made the Top Ten list in 2011, too. “The contest has really helped our sales,” Heydon said. Last year, the meat orders for Coon Bowl III increased 30% following the announcement of its inclusion in the Top Ten.
Increasing restaurant business is one goal of Iowa’s Best Burger contest. “The burger is the all–American classic served in almost every restaurant from the local café to the finest white tablecloth establishment,” Baumhover said. See the locations of the other Top Ten finishers.
This is the third year that ICA and IBIC have sponsored the contest. In 2011, the winner was the Rusty Duck in Dexter, while Sac County Cattle Company of Sac City won the inaugural event in 2010.
 ICA members go to the Capitol
Members of the Iowa Cattlemen’s Association provided food for thought and ribeye steak sandwiches at the Iowa State Capitol in Des Moines on April 10. Approximately 30 members of the ICA board of directors met at the Capitol for their April meeting, and took the opportunity to talk to several legislators. Herr, Brad Pellett of Atlantic (center) and ICA President Ross Havens of Wiota (right), talked with Senator Nancy Boettger of Harlan, during the event.
ICA also served more than 650 ribeye steak sandwiches to legislators, their staffs, and other state employees, including Governor Terry Branstad, Lieutenant Governor Kim Reynolds, Chuck Gipp, the deputy director of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR), and Bill Ehm, the administrator of DNR’s Environmental Protection Division.
ICA sale at Dunlap continues series of record 'average sale price'
For the third sale in a row, the bulls that are selling through the Iowa Cattlemen’s Association Bull Evaluation Program have set a new record on average sale prices, says Kellie Carolan, ICA’s seedstock manager.
In May of 2011, at the final sale for the year, the average price of a bull sold at the Tama Livestock Auction was $2,416, at the first ICA sale of 2012, the bulls averaged $2,726 at the Bloomfield Livestock Market; and at the most recent sale at Dunlap Livestock Auction, the 33 bulls sold there averaged $3,339.
“Ther e are three reasons these average prices keep increasing,” Carolan says. “First, our consignors are putting good bulls in a program with 27 years of history. Second, the buyers are looking for the kind of bulls that will help us grow the cow-calf segment, and these bulls will definitely improve the commercial cow herd. The third reason is that there are record cattle prices across the industry.”
To see the caliber of bulls sold at the Dunlap and Bloomfield auctions, check here for the sale catalogs and the YouTube logo for videos of those bulls. Videos for the upcoming sale at Tama Livestock Auction, which will be May 4, will be added to this site the week before the sale.
Upcoming Events
May 26 ICA Night at Knoxville Raceway
June 5-6 ICA YCLP Session 2
June 25 ICA Beef Masters Open
Atlantic, Iowa
July 2 ICA Carcass Challenge
Reception
July 10 ICA Policy Development Day
August 6 ICA Beef Masters Open
Shellsburg, IA
August 9 - 19 Iowa State Fair
August 11 Governor's Charity Steer Show
ICA mission, strategic plan
ICA’s mission is ‘Grow Iowa’s beef business through advocacy, leadership and education.’
The strategic priorities and the goals of each are:
Represent ICA Members
Goal: Be the definitive voice of the Iowa beef industry.
Have a Legislative and Regulatory Presence
Goal: Influence the outcome of government actions to the most positive outcome for cattle producers.
Support Leadership Development of Members
Goal: Strengthen the leadership capacity of ICA members with a special emphasis on developing young leaders.
Provide Staff Support to County Affiliates
Goal: Develop tools and training for county affiliates to effectively implement local activities.
Review Governance Structure
Goal: Assure association governance is representative of members while maintaining effective and efficient operations.
|
|