On May 1, the first day of Beef month, I read a fellow aggie’s social media post of a Wall State Journal’s Headline

"NYC elementary school adopts all-vegetarian menu"

As a mom, I shook my head

You see as a parent of two school-aged children, one in elementary and one in high school, I often have a love-hate relationship with the school’s menu.  I have never been impressed with the main dish item being breadsticks. Sure, I admit I have done the occasional breadstick-cheese combo for quick lunch, once in while, but not as a hard-core calculated planned menu for kids. 

However as an individual raising beef, I shook my head… counted to 10….. took a deep breath……waited a few days before writing this blog post......and tried to rationalize the school district’s decisions to erode away the child’s freedom to choose or threaten the health and performance of children-Especially in a public school setting where food served at the school may be the only real meal of the day.

Administrators of Public School 244 in Flushing section of Queens proudly claim switching to all vegetarian menu is providing a healthier option for their students. However, this mom knows that eliminating animal proteins will deprive students of essential nutrients for brain power and building lean muscles.

Protein makes up about 20 percent of the weight of the heart, muscles and liver. In addition, protein also counts for 10 percent of the brain. The quality of the protein is essential for a health. Every cell contains protein and it helps bond the body together in bones, ligaments, and tendons.  Enzymes and hormones, which play vital roles in keeping your body running smoothly, also contain protein. Your body cannot repair tissues or cells without protein. More importantly, eating enough proteins signals the body to retain and to make muscle.  Muscle burns more calories than fat.

Animal vs. Plant Protein

Here are the facts Plant Proteins are not equal to Animal Proteins.  There is no way a pro-vegetarian agenda can spin it. Animal sources contain greater amount of protein.  It takes a large amount of plant sources to equally substitute. 

Complete vs. Incomplete Protein

The only plant source protein that is considered "complete" by food scientists is soybean.  On the flip side lean meats, eggs, and dairy products are all labeled complete or high-quality protein. Please note that the actual grams of protein present in soybean are extremely low therefore for your calories intake Animal Protein provides more nutrients for fewer calories.

Bonus Factor

Animal protein sources are packed full of Vitamin B_{12 .} Name one plant source that contains this important vitamin that is crucial for nerve and brain function. 

Wait for it…

         Wait for it…

There is NO plant source that naturally contain B_12.  

Supporters of the P.S. 244 Adminstrators' decision to serve all vegetarian menu (including People for the Ethincal Treatment of Animals -PETA), applaud the school for making a healthy decisions on behalf of its studnets.

Beefnutrition.org

Healthguidance.org

WebMD.com

LivingStrong.org

Health Benefit of B₁₂

Today (March 19) is National Ag Day, a day to celebrate the wonderful world of Agriculture.  As a farmer, I cannot imagine a day when I do not get my hands dirty or welcome a brand new calf into the world or discuss agriculture.

No one on this planet could go a day without Agriculture. You are part of Agriculture from the food you eat to the clothes you wear. Agriculture is everywhere. Beyond the plate, farmers and ranchers produce items you use every day.

On National Ag Day, we need to celebrate AGRICULTURE and the abundance, variety food choices that U.S. Farmers and Ranchers provide for the World. Whether your food choice is conventional, organic, all natural, local, gluten-free, vegetarian, or all animal protein; we need to be thankful for the affordable choices available to us as consumers in this nation. Despite the rising food costs in the grocery store, the U.S. still has the cheapest and more food choices for its citizens.

Agriculture is an important part of your life and an important part of U.S. Economy. For the 98 percent of individuals roaming this great nation the origin of your food, clothing, or other products is the farthest from your mind.  In this fast pace, media frenzy world it is often easy to quickly form opinions about agriculture and the 2 percent that farm and ranch.

One important component of the agriculture community we often overlook as farmers and ranchers is YOU.  It is easy to get caught up in tilling the soil and caring for animals to spend time with the individuals that consume our products.

Therefore on National Ag Day, I Ask for Mutual Respect

As a farmer, I promise to respect and preserve the land, air, and water. I strive to provide my animals with food, water, and shelter, and essential items for healthy environment and well-being.

I will embrace new technology, absorb the knowledge of forefathers, and seek education to provide quality agriculture products for the growing population without sacrificing natural resources. 

I will nurture the next generation of farmers and rancher to ensure the future of agriculture remains in the family.

I promise to take a deep breath, count to 5 when I hear a myth about agriculture OR an opinion different from mine.  I promise to devote time to answer your questions about my farm and the agriculture community.

I promise to RESPECT your food selection and join forces with the agriculture community to continue to provide an abundant, variety, and safe agriculture products.

In return, I ask you, as a consumer, not to jump to quick conclusion about agriculture. Add an item to your "To Do List" to explore the world of agriculture beyond the grocery shelf.  Learn a little about who grows your food, how we grow your food, and how the ag product is processed from my farm to item you buy in the store.

I invite you to understand that beyond the table products made from agriculture like insulation-medicines-cosmetics-plastic are not evil but an ingenious way to utilize all parts of plant or animal harvested for our well-being. 

 In the honor of National Ag Day, I say "Thank-You" to my American and World Consumer for purchasing my agriculture products in the form of your choice.  My Customer Service Line is open if you want to have a chat about my farm.

 My response to Frances Moore Lappe blog: This Holiday, Give Thanks and Get Real about Food

"It is this: Our exceedingly bright species has ended up creating a "food" system so inefficient that much of it doesn't really produce food at all!" – Frances Moore Lappe

Dear Frances Moore Lappe:

We need to have chat about food and the great farmers and ranchers that grow your food. You see, I am a farmer. My family works hard every day using God’s given talent to grow corn, soybeans, and beef cattle.  In Central Illinois, the soils on my farmland are noted to be the World’s Best Soil for raising Corn and Soybeans.  The environmental condition and natural resources are best suitable for these crops. I cannot grow all the food items like vegetables and fruits I serve to my family year around or at all because the conditions in Illinois are not fit to do so.  That is why this season of Thankfulness I am thankful for the hard working farmers and ranchers who produce my food in the United State and the world.

You call our food systems inefficient but I respectfully disagree with your perspective.  The world of Agriculture is filled with innovation and we work hard to utilize every part of a raw product.  During the processing process (such as in the making of ethanol fuel) not every part of the corn is utilize. Instead of wasting the by-products or the leftovers, researchers have tackle the task of turning the "must goes" to wonderful products you use every day.  I admit this is work in progress but the agriculture community has made great strides.

I invite you to review the chart of the National Corn Growers explaining the many products of corn.

As a beef producer, I feed my animals a well-balanced diet. In order to keep them healthy, I feed grass or hay year round and feed rations that contain corn, oats, and soybean proteins plus minerals and vitamins. In fact, I feed co-products of corn and soybean to produce ‘high energy’ protein diets.  The practice to feed co-products was not available for my grandfather.

People also need to eat a balance diet. If it were up to you-Frances, we would never get to enjoy a think juicy steak because you claim we waste our corn and soybeans in feeding cattle.  People need animal proteins to live a healthy lifestyle.  Animal Proteins-lean meats, eggs, and lowfat dairy products-are complete package of essential amino acids needed to stimulate muscle growth. Research has shown that moderately increasing protein intake can be an effective way to manage weight.   Choosing lean meat as a nutrient-rich source of protein can be a calorie-saver. Meat is a great source of high-quality protein that no single vegetarian food can provide.  A 3-ounce serving of lean beef offers the most protein with the fewest calories when compared to plant proteins such as peanut butter, black beans and tofu.

·        A 3-ounce serving of lean beef is about 180 calories. You would have to eat 670 calories of peanut butter (more than 7 tablespoons) to get the same amount of protein.

·        A person would need to consume two to three times the calories provided in a 3-ounce serving of beef to get an equivalent amount of protein from a veggie burger.

 Similar to the co-products of corn and soybeans, every part of the animal is utilized for food or other products. 

While it is no secret that livestock are large consumer of corn and soybeans, let me assure you that the agriculture community will answer the call to power to work through the supply and demand issues.  In fact, advancement in technology and improving farming practices already have assisted U.S. farmers and ranchers to produce more on less land. My grandfather fed 19 people, my father fed 26 people, I feed 155 people, and I work hard to make sure my children will 155 and beyond. Today’s farmers produce 262 percent more food with 2 percent fewer inputs (labor, seeds, feed, fertilizer, etc.), compared with 1950.

In my opinion, Farmers and Ranchers’ biggest competitions are the concrete jungle, unnecessary government regulations, unpredictable weather, and the firestorms of false information spread about farming and ranching. 

I encourage everyone to learn more about farming and the food on your plate but I urge you to actually ask a farmer or rancher. You do not know a farmer?  Just ask, I can hook you up.

In the first Thanksgiving feast, the Pilgrims and Native American celebrate the first successful harvest.  A harvest completed by hard working individuals that rolled up their sleeves and answer the call to power to feed their families.  Today, the 2 percent – U.S. Farmers and Ranchers- do this every day. We answer the call to grow crops and livestock for food and other wonderful products that every person uses every day.  So I ask you when you gather around your Thanksgiving table or pause to ponder on the things you are thankful for, please say thank you to the all the hardworking farmers, ranchers, and individuals that take part in getting the raw product from our fields to a product you purchase.

Sincerely,

Cheryl Day, An American Farmer

On my Social Media Feeds, I have been sharing a fact about agriculture every day in November. Today, November 15, marks the half way mark.  I invite you to learn more about U.S. agriculture and the farmers/ranchers that produce your food, fuel, and fiber.

Did You Know? [click on the link in each fact to learn more]

1. 98% farms are family owned
2. 22 million American workers produce, process, sell and trade the nation’s food and fiber. But only 4.6 million of those people live on the farms– slightly less than 2% of the total U.S. Population. 
3. The same land that provides food and open space for raising cattle also offers a home for many types of wildlife, including threatened and endangered species of fish, mammals, birds and plants.
4. 90% of the Pumpkins grown in the United States are raised in 90-mile radius of Peoria, IL
5. During the Civil War, Soybeans were used in place of coffee because real coffee was scarce.
6. The United States Department of Agriculture was actually started by President Abraham Lincoln.
7. Starbucks uses over 2% of the nation’s annual milk supply
8. America’s corn farmers are by far the most productive in the world, growing 20% more Corn per acre than any other nation.
9. Black Angus Cattle have gray-rough tongues.
10. Wool is comparatively fire resistant. This natural fiber is hard to ignite and will self-extinguish
11. Soldier pigs have gone to war. On battlefields, they have used their sensitive snouts as mine sniffers.
12. Today’s four-wheel drive tractors have the power of 40- 300 horses. This makes for a large capital investment, as farmers pay anywhere from $97,000 for an average 160 horsepower tractor to $170,000 for a four-wheel drive model.
13. A bale of cotton weighs about 500 pounds
14. California produced the most vegetables in United States, which accounted for 48% of the nation’s value of fresh vegetables.
15. About 2.2 million pounds of Certified Angus Beef®  are sold daily, generating an estimated $4 billion in consumer sales annually.

Thank You America's Farmers and Ranchers! 

As a child of family that owned the local Gran Elevator in the late 1980s, the memories of the stress drought placed on the farm families and the businesses of the agriculture community came flooding back.  I now know the true anxiety my parents endured during that time period.  Until the final grain is harvested, our family or the world will not truly know the financial impact the drought of 2012 will have on our livelihood or the world's economy.  Will the farmer be able to put food on his table and everyone else’s?

As a farmer, we take great care in utilizing the latest technology to increase yield on the same acreage without depleting the natural resources we were blessed with on our farm. We are the biggest gamblers because farmers bet the house on the hand Mother Nature deals us.  However the world’s best soil, supreme genetic seed package, and newest equipment cannot raise a record crop demanded by a growing population without rain.   Every year the growing season presents challenges some years are just larger obstacles than others.  

Our family is luckier than some parts of Illinois, we actually have corn and soybeans to harvest. The corn yields for the area have ranged 90 to 170bu per acre compared to our normal 180 to 250bu per acre.   Farmers of the 1988 will tell you that 80bu Corn was golden.  Only thing that has change is utilization of sound science.  Biotechnology has changed the genetic package of the seed allowing it to endure extreme environmental factors. 

2012 will go down as the widest spread drought throughout the Corn Belt since the 1980s. The world will feel the impact from grocery items derived from our commodity to the meat counter to corn plastic.  As a livestock producer, the long-hot summer still taunts my goals at raising outstanding breeding animals to serve as foundation genetics for the beef industry.  Similar to all farmers and ranchers, our family is facing hard decisions and exercising our strategic planning that will hopefully help us to weather the storm.