76 NEBRASKA CATTLEMAN March 2024 ® BY CONNOR AGRISCIENCE SILAGE BARRIER FILMS are also preferring and planning to cook more meals at home vs. eating out as often as they have been. “The focus is the practical application,” Rippe says. “We use a cuts chart that walks through how to select lean beef cuts. Finding some of those cuts that maybe they’ve tried before that meet the lean beef criteria and then finding unique ways to prepare those is pretty impactful for them.” The recipes that Rippe prepares meet all the American Heart Association standards for sodium, fat, cholesterol and saturated fat, so that they can be used in a cardiac rehabilitation-approved dietary protocol. These recipes can be found at recipes.heart.org. There was so much interest in the beef research and cooking courses that they had to spill into March, as Rippe ran out of days in February to fit all of them in. Rippe says this transitions well into Nutrition Month in March. “We focus on utilizing beef as the vehicle that helps drive increased consumption of a well-balanced diet,” Rippe says, “(while) encouraging people to eat more fruits, vegetables, whole grains and beef with that.” It is an excellent time to remember that beef can be used to add both flavor and meet nutritional requirements in meals. Beef provides the opportunity to create a delicious meal to share with others, while nourishing your body with iron, zinc, choline, B vitamins and, of course, high-quality protein. As we look to turn the page on winter, and with it Heart Month, we hope you will keep an eye out for research and cooking demonstration classes in your area in the future. In March, there will be an online social media campaign where you can find more on the nutritional value of beef. The Nebraska Beef Council will share these on their Facebook and Instagram pages, along with recipes that feature balanced, beefbased meals. ~NC~ NEBRASKA BEEF COUNCIL UPDATE CONTINUED FROM PAGE 72 U.S. cattle sector now has 15 percent fewer cattle but produces 20 percent more meat. These greater efficiencies have helped the U.S. cattle sector reduce greenhouse gas production over the decades. Since 1961, the industry has more than doubled its volume of meat produced, yet total direct greenhouse gas emissions from U.S. livestock have fallen by 11 percent. U.S. livestock production also uses significantly less water than it did half a century ago. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization reports as much as 70 percent of all agricultural land globally is best suited as rangeland for ruminant livestock. Here in Nebraska, this applies directly to the Sandhills, among other regions of the state. Since long before modern agriculture, grazing animals have been present on this landscape, and it remains a hub of national beef production today. Nationwide, 30 to 35 percent of the U.S. land mass is in permanent range and pasture, where beef production is a natural choice. Ruminants naturally “upcycle” human-inedible plants to a protein-rich meat. These plants account for about 85 percent of feed for U.S. cattle. UNL researchers have directly contributed to a number of the improvements and breakthroughs mentioned above. And today, UNL researchers are looking at everything from feed efficiency to positive impacts of grazing on grassland health to further reducing cattle methane production. Simply put, beef and other animal protein production is critical for nutrition. It’s ideally suited for many landscapes and is becoming more efficient all the time. The Global Climate Summit recommendation underscores the opportunity and, frankly, the need to educate the public on beef production and the very critical role it plays in feeding a growing world. Nebraska must become a leader in this space, just as it has in so many other aspects of the beef industry. As always, I welcome the opportunity to visit with stakeholders like you. Please don’t hesitate to reach out at mboehm3@ unl.edu. ~NC~ IANR CONTINUED FROM PAGE 74
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