Farm Facts That Feed You

By Julie Murphree, Arizona Farm Bureau Outreach Director

1. Arizona cattle ranches produce enough beef to feed more than 8 million people every year.
2. Arizona beef ranks top when it comes to quality and taste!
3. Not only is raising beef cattle one of Arizona’s largest agriculture commodities, but it is also the largest area of all American agriculture.
4. Beef is a complete, high-quality protein, which means it supplies all the essential amino acids, or building blocks of protein, the body needs to build, maintain and repair body tissue.
5. A 3-ounce serving of lean beef is an excellent source of protein, supplying more than half of the protein most people need each day.
6. To get the same amount of protein found in a 3 oz. serving of lean beef at 150 calories, you would need to eat 236 calories of raw soy tofu cubes, 374 calories of black beans, or 670 calories of peanut butter.
7. Beef is a nutritional powerhouse. It would take 8 ounces of chicken breast to get the same amount of iron as 3 ounces of beef, and it would take close to 7 times the amount of chicken to get the same amount of zinc as a serving of beef.
8. The U.S. provides 25 percent of the world’s beef, but only has 10 percent of the world’s cattle.
9. A steer of around 1,150 pounds bears approximately 500 pounds of beef. Most of the remaining weight is salvaged as by-products, enabling us to use around 99% of the animal.
10. There are 29 cuts of beef that meet government guidelines for being lean.
11. According to factsaboutbeef.com and the USDA, to be lean the cut has to have less than 10 grams total fat, have less than 95 mg of cholesterol per 100 grams (3.5 oz.) of meat, and have less than or equal to 4.5 g of saturated fat.
12. To ensure safe and delicious ground beef you should cook it at 160 degrees F.
13. There are at least 50 breeds of beef cattle, but fewer than 10 make up most cattle produced. Some major breeds are Angus, Hereford, and Brahman.
14. There is more fat marbling in USDA Prime beef, which makes it the most flavorful and tender. It also means that it is higher in fat content. Most of the beef sold in supermarkets are graded USDA Select or USDA Choice. Regardless of grade, the mineral, protein and vitamin content are similar.
15. Beef is considered a red meat because of the amount of myoglobin (a protein in meat that holds oxygen in the muscle) that it contains. Other “red” meats are lamb, pork, and veal. (There is less myoglobin in “white” meats such as fish and chicken.)

Sources: These facts come from my ranchers, the Arizona Beef Council, and my nutrition friends. If you’re a beef fan like me, go to Fill Your Plate’s recipe section and also the Beef Council’s recipes.
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