Published: November 07, 2008 09:50 am            

Crossbreeding gaining favor in state

Originally published in the Oct. 31, 2008, print edition.

Is the crossbreeding fever beginning to pick up steam in the Minnesota beef industry? It happens in all breeds of cattle, dairy industry included, said Conrad Kvamme, coordinator of the Midwest Dairy Beef Quality Assurance Center.

Interviewed at the recent Minnesota Beef Expo, Kvamme said crossbreeding gives you some heterosis (hybrid vigor) and some cattlemen do this to gain performance among other reasons. By the same token, it reduces the amount of breeding stock that might be sold.

“If you’re in the commercial business and want to get the best of two or three breeds together, there seems to be a place for crossbreeding,” Kvamme said, pointing out that it seems to work particularly well for those in the grass-fed beef business. If you understand your weights and performance standards, then you can develop good carcass regardless of whether you are grass-fed or corn-fed.

Grass vs. grain

With grass-fed beef gaining more attention, Kvamme simply said that it has to have some taste, some tenderness or the consumer will not be excited. It takes awhile to breed for those particular traits but as long as you are producing in a positive manner that meets consumer demand, then you are on the right track regardless of grain-fed or grass-fed.

Does grass-fed beef fit more logically for the organic food markets?

Kvamme said it does simply because the logistics of getting into an organic program work easier with grass-fed beef. “It lends itself to organic production but you still have to know your buyers. It’s a niche market, which means you need to have all your ducks in a row. If you don’t come with a quality product, you’ll be a flash in the pan trying to get into this specialty market.”

He said there seems to be a growing organic foods market, meats included. “We have fads in food just like we have fads in other consumer tastes. Things come and go but we know organic foods are here for the long haul. And as this market also expands for meats, then the Minnesota beef producer needs to explore and see if there is a niche for his/her product as well.”

Lean beef is where it’s at

Kvamme and Ron Eustice, Minnesota Beef Council, share educational duties at many events touting the value of beef and the proper preparation and handling of beef cuts. His display at the Beef Expo displayed the various meat cuts from a beef carcass. He said consumers are especially delighted to check the various bulletins on lean beef — Lean Beef for Stews and Chilis; Lean Beef One-Dish Meals; Lean Beef Salads, Family Pleasing Lean Beef Meals and Easy Entertaining with Lean Beef.

These particular color brochures include a graphic titled: Twenty-nine Ways to Love Lean Beef. Using USDA data, it profiles various beef cuts with grams of saturated fat and grams of total fat per six-ounce serving. The brochures also have a bar chart showing fat comparisons of beef, chicken, fish and olive oil. According to this data, lean beef has fewer grams of polyunsaturated fat than chicken, tuna, salmon or olive oil.

“Our quality assurance program educates both producers on how to maintain beef quality in their animals and consumers on how much nutrition value modern beef provides,” Kvamme said, adding that Minnesota cattle producers are more cognizant today that if they don’t do everything right, they simply won’t be in business long.

A good example of doing something right was the creation of the Flat Iron steak, just three years ago. “We always knew that if we handle that shoulder roast just right, you had a tender cut of meat because it sits right next to the tenderloin. So it was a matter of properly trimming that roast. Cut it out right and you have a tasty, very tender steak from a portion of the carcass that used to be of lesser value.

“We simply tell people just three ounces of lean beef a day gives you all your daily requirements of zinc, iron and protein plus the B-complex series. People tell me that even with these tougher times they still want to keep beef in their food budget. And they’re glad to know that hamburger isn’t the only way to economize and still get quality,” Kvamme said.

So is country of origin labeling giving the consumer more confidence in the beef products they buy? It’s such a political football, but Kvamme thinks it needs time to determine what level of interest, and demand this is from the American consumer. “Time will tell if it has its merits and consumers really are that concerned.”

        

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