Have you thanked your cattle producer?

May is beef month. And it makes me hungry for a tasty Nebraska steak just typing that.

The Nebraska Corn Board put out a news release today discussing some things it does to support beef production right here in Nebraska. This includes research with the University of Nebraska into feeding cattle corn co-products like distillers grains. In fact, it wasn't that long ago that the second edition of the handbook titled “Utilization of Corn Co-Products in the Beef Industry” came out.

Another manual on methods of storing distillers grains, so cattle producers can stock up on the feed ingredient, will be released soon.

“There is probably no other state that has as much knowledge and actual experience in feeding distillers grains as Nebraska,” said Dennis Gengenbach, chairman of the Corn Board’s Research Committee. “In fact, the Corn Board has allocated nearly $200,000 this year alone in distillers grains research.”

Executive director Don Hutchens added that the Corn Board now spends three times more money on meat exports than it does bulk corn exports.

According to Stan Boehr, chairman of the Corn Board’s Government Affairs Committee, there is also tremendous opportunities for the two commodity organizations to work together on federal policy issues:

For two years now we have traveled to Washington, D.C., together with representatives of the Nebraska Cattlemen to lobby for issues we mutually agree on. Getting more beef back into the world market has been our number one focus, along with animal welfare and environmental issues. By working together, we can pack a much more powerful punch, and our representatives in Washington appreciate the fact that we do this. It’s unique to Nebraska.