April Beef Briefs
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Editor’s note: please feel free to use these beef “blurbs” as space allows in your publication or online content. If you would like to expand on a certain topic, please e-mail Melissa Slagle at mslagle@beefboard.org.
In case you missed it…
… An aggressive market response program has been implemented in an effort to move the middle meats at retail
… You can take a farm tour and learn more about Beef Board Chairman Lucinda Williams here
… Concerns that limit consumer beef use parallel the concerns consumers have regarding overall food use, according to new checkoff-funded market research about beef consumption.
Beef Holding Steady
With key global markets experiencing sluggish consumer spending, volatile currencies and persistent economic uncertainty, many analysts have been predicting a downturn for U.S. beef exports. The January export results, however, defied those expectations as beef muscle cut exports jumped 13 percent in volume and 15 percent in value compared to January 2008. Because beef variety meat exports declined in both volume and value, total beef plus beef variety meat exports were up 4 percent in value to $233 million, and essentially held even with January 2008 in terms of volume at 146.5 million pounds.
USMEF’s international teams have refocused their checkoff-funded efforts on market niches that offer a more immediate return on investment – as opposed to some long-range educational programs – in order to help offset the projections for lower global protein consumption driven by the economic downturn. Expanded market access in Japan remains a top priority for the beef industry.
It’s All in the Kitchn
The first in a series of checkoff-funded posts on TheKitchn.com is live. It includes information on safely storing and defrosting beef, featuring the downloadable guidelines from BeefItsWhatsForDinner.com. Check it out here.
WCRF Report
In November 2007, a worldwide report on cancer prevention was issued by the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) stating evidence that red meat and processed meats are a cause of colorectal cancer. At that time, the beef checkoff made a significant research investment to closely examine the science which indicated there was no conclusive evidence directly linking red meat and cancer. The WCRF recently issued its policy report based on the findings from 2007, and once again, the beef checkoff had an appropriate response plan in place. In advance of the report, preparation efforts were put into place to counter any potentially negative scenario that may have resulted from the report release. Resources on red meat and cancer can be found here.
New Chuck Roll Cuts Hitting Mainstream
One of the biggest challenges when rolling out new beef cuts is having a major beef processor change their operations to cut and sell the new beef products. In March, Tyson Fresh Meats (formerly IBP) began selling the 4-piece chuck roll combo pack. The combo pack has the chuck eye roll (which can be further cut into Delmonico steaks, America’s Beef roast and Country-Style ribs), the serratus ventralis (Denver Cut), the Splenius (Sierra Cut) and the rhomboideus which is generally cut up into stew meat. These cuts were all identified through the checkoff-funded Muscle Profiling Study.
Having Tyson Fresh Meats on board processing the new cuts is a big win for the beef industry and consumers alike. The cuts are flavorful, trimmed of visible fat, and they offer a variety of merchandising applications which gives the retailer and the foodservice operator a lot of flexibility. Consumers have been asking for leaner cuts of beef and this offers them more delicious choices in the meat case and on the menu.
Click here for more information.
New E. coli vaccine?
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack officially announced the agency is granting conditional approval of the on-farm intervention, which was developed by Minnesota-based Epitopix, LLC. Beef checkoff research has played an important role in identifying opportunities to control E. coli and has helped advance the science supporting pre-harvest intervention technologies. This vaccine is one of many such technologies currently in development. Since 1993, beef producers alone have invested more than $27 million in beef safety research, and the industry as a whole invests $350 million annually on safety interventions. Click here for more information.
The Beef Checkoff Program was established as part of the 1985 Farm Bill. The checkoff assesses $1 per head on the sale of live domestic and imported cattle, in addition to a comparable assessment on imported beef and beef products. States retain up to 50 cents on the dollar and forward the other 50 cents per head to the Cattlemen’s Beef Promotion and Research Board, which administers the national checkoff program, subject to USDA approval.
Funded by the Beef Checkoff.
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