Celebrate National Beef Month, eat a steak

MT. PLEASANT — Beef producers, butchers, and retailers receive recognition every May as the agricultural industry celebrates Nation Beef Month.

Considering these celebrations, Henry County cattle farmers like DeAnn Scott-Harp speak up for beef as an environmentally friendly protein.

  Buy Photo

As concern for the societal footprint on the environment grows, so have ideas about how to reduce that impact. One idea which has gained traction is reducing the consumption of meat, especially beef, due to greenhouse gas emissions associated with production.

“Did you know in the last 30 years, beef production in the United States has increased 18 percent, but per-unit emissions have fallen more than 8 percent?” said Scott-Harp, a fifth-generation beef farmer.

According to Iowa Farm Bureau, beef and dairy cattle only contribute to 3.8% of total greenhouse gas emissions across the country, and the United States has the lowest carbon footprint for meat and milk in the world.

The Farm Bureau attributes this to improvements in genetics and raising more animals with fewer resources, while still optimizing cattle nutrition.

Scott-Harp states that cattle not only make minimal contributions but minimize these harmful greenhouse gases thanks to the part they play in “upcycling” waste.

“Cattle do their part to minimize the impact [of waste] by eating plant materials that cannot be digested by the human stomach,” Scott-Harp states. “Cattle upcycle this waste into nutrient-dense protein that helps fuel our bodies.”

According to Iowa Waste Reduction Center, ruminant feed for animals such as cattle, can include many waste products not suitable for human consumption otherwise including various proteins, milk products, plate waste, and tallow with less than 0.15% insoluble impurities.

While the Livestock, Environment, and Development initiative claims the livestock industry “uses dwindling supplies of freshwater, destroys forests and grasslands, and causes soil erosion,” Scott-Harp’s experience raising cattle cements an opposing opinion that bolsters the consumption of beef.

  Buy Photo

Scott-Harp said cattle are raised on lands unsuitable for growing crops, and they help strengthen the local environment in a variety of other ways.

“The forages they graze on help keep carbon trapped beneath the soil,” she said. “Some farmers are also planting cover crops — grasses that blanket farm fields in the winter months to keep soil nutrients in place — for cattle to eat. That’s a win for carbon sequestration and water quality.”

As Scott-Harp celebrates National Beef Month steadfast in her beliefs that eating beef is environmentally friendly, she encourages others to fire up their grills and enjoy a juicy steak or burger with her, “knowing it was raised sustainably by farmers like me who put care of animals and the environment side by side. It’s a win-win for all of us.”

  Buy Photo

With Henry County Farm Bureau’s National Beef Month giveaway, who could resist honoring Scott-Harp’s request. Just as they have during National Beef Month every year, Henry County Farm Bureau is celebrating by partnering with Hy-Vee for this giveaway.

To enter, just register and answer a couple short questions at https://forms.office.com/r/7XhsUW2rvN and each week they will select one winner to receive a two-pack of T-bone steaks throughout May.

For those with less culinary skills, the Henry County Cattlemen will also serve up great options of beef at the Mt. Pleasant Farmer’s Market opening this week, Thursday, May 16 or at various events throughout the county this summer.

Comments: AnnaMarie.Ward@southeastiowaunion.com