Farm & Ranch

10 Truths About Beef

Published

4 years ago

December 3, 2019

NTFR

By the Noble Research Foundation

Beef is tasty anyway you fix it: sizzled on the grill, roasted in the oven or dried for jerky. Here are some facts about our favorite protein and the industry that produces it.
1 – The journey of bringing beef to the table represents the most unique and complex life cycle of any food. The process takes about two to three years.
2 – There were 93.5 million cattle in the United States as of Jan. 1, 2017. About a third of them were beef cows. The rest include calves, beef bulls and dairy cattle.
3 – The average number of cows in a herd is 40.
4 – To be considered lean, a three-ounce cooked serving of beef must have less than 10 grams of total fat, 4.5 grams of saturated fat, and 95 milligrams of cholesterol. This qualifies more than 60 percent of beef cuts (when cooked with visible fat trimmed) found in the supermarket.

To read more pick up a copy of the December 2019 NTFR issue. To subscribe call 940-872-5922.

Farm & Ranch

Hazards of Backyard Poultry

Published

6 days ago

April 21, 2024

NTFR

By Barry Whitworth, DVM

Having backyard poultry is a popular agriculture enterprise. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, 0.8 percent of all households in the United States have chickens. People keep chickens for a variety of reasons with table eggs being one of the more common reasons.

Unfortunately, some of these poultry producers are not aware of the hazards that come with keeping poultry because many times they carry pathogens but appear healthy.
Chickens are carriers of several zoonotic diseases. These are diseases that can be passed from animals to humans. According to a recent survey in Pennsylvania, a majority of backyard poultry producers were aware of the dangers of avian influenza. However, this study also revealed that far fewer producers were aware of the risk of possible exposure to Salmonella and Campylobacter.

The lack of knowledge about the hazards of raising poultry likely contributes to the continued issues of Salmonella outbreaks associated with backyard poultry. In 2023, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 1,072 illnesses of Salmonella linked to backyard poultry, and 272 of those patients required hospitalization. Oklahoma reported 43 individuals with the disease.

To read more, pick up a copy of the April issue of NTFR magazine. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.