Just in time for the lead up to the Cattle Industry Summer Conference we have the introduction of Cows Unite by the folks from Sustainable Table. Thanks to AdRants for the story. Cows Have the Right to Be Cows. Cows Have the Right to Graze. Cows Have the Right to Clean Air. Cows Have the Right to Dignity and Joy. …
Julie Drendel Joins Staff of Jersey Journal
The official publication of the American Jersey Cattle Association and National All-Jersey Inc. welcomes a new member to its editorial staff. Julie Drendel is the new Assistant Editor for Jersey Journal, a 54-year-old publication specializing in the jersey cattle industry. “Because of her internship with Jersey Journal last summer and work on the Jersey Directory, our readers and advertisers know …
Throw Him A T-Bone For Father’s Day
The Catttleman’s Beef Promotion and Research Board urges consumers to “bring the beef” this Father’s Day. The Board says barbecues have been a Father’s Day tradition since its founding in 1972 when Richard Nixon signed the day into public law. Father’s Day is by nature “a prime time for cookout,” for the Board. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, more …
Consumers Love Beef Tender
Would you pay $345.95 for four 12 oz. strip steaks – raw steaks, mind you, not cooked. That’s the price on-line for “Kobe-style” strip steaks, as marketed by Allen Brothers – a company some Rush Limbaugh listeners might recognize. That compares to $159.95 for the same quantity of U.S. Prime, dry-aged strip steaks – or just $104.95 for U.S. Prime, …
Sensory Panel Testing
Individual booths, red lights to mask colors, positive pressure ventilation to keep out unwanted smells and pass-through sample presentation doors – that’s the environment where trained sensory panelists do their work at the ISU Sensory Evaluation Unit. So, basically this is what you see, sitting in your little booth, waiting for samples to come through the little door. You cleanse …
Sensory Evaluation 101
How difficult could it be to figure out whether a piece of meat is tough or tender, dry or juicy, flavorful or not? A group of ag journalists found out this week as guests of Elanco Animal Health to a Sensory Evaluation Briefing at Iowa State University. Basically, we all got a crash course in how to be “sensory panelists.” …
Perception is Reality
When it comes to testing food, it’s all the senses that count, not just taste. “That’s because there’s only about four things we can taste,” says Dr. Ken Prusa with Iowa State University. “Sweet, salty, sour and bitter.” Which makes taste alone a pretty limited factor in the total experience of how we perceive a food. In fact, we use …
Designing Meat Quality Trials
Designing trials for a new animal health product to evaluate meat quality is expensive and complicated, according to Dr. Floyd McKeith with the University of Illinois Department of Animal Sciences. He was one of the speakers at a workshop for ag editors this week in Ames, Iowa sponsored by Elanco Animal Health. According to Dr. McKeith, some of the factors …
Elanco Sensory Evaluation Workshop
Bringing an animal health product to market requires a lot of testing – not just on how that product affects the animal, but also how it affects the meat that comes from that animal. That’s what a group of farm media folks, including myself, learned about this week at Iowa State University in Ames, courtesy of Elanco Animal Health. Pictured …
Beef Quality Counts
“In today’s consumer-driven environment, just one bad beef-eating experience has the potential for long-term impact for all segments of the food chain,” says Dr. Ken Prusa of Iowa State University. I will be hearing about that from Dr. Prusa and colleagues Dr. Floyd McKeith, University of Illinois, and Dr. Keith Belk, Colorado State University, at a sensory briefing and wet …