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SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS (Feb. 4, 2005) — Members of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) Joint Product Enhancement Committee met Feb. 4 during the Cattle Industry Annual Convention and Trade Show in San Antonio to establish research and funding priorities and to initiate the planning process regarding such issues for fiscal year (FY) 2006.
Following the approval of minutes from a previous meeting and some discussion of long-range planning factors, advisory panel chairman Dennis Stiffler, BC Natural Foods, presented suggested research priorities previously established by a six-member committee. It was decided, he said, to divide research and educational initiatives into four groups, including product characteristics, dissemination, genomics and instrumentation.
Stiffler reported that the advisory committee regarded improved product characteristics as a high priority for research funding. Muscle profiling, tenderness, flavor, culinary initiatives, product color and industry and consumer acceptance were among areas identified by the committee as needing further research.
“We need to look at how we can (more easily) get to muscles to make them more user-friendly in fabrication,” Stiffler said. “We need to look at how you can better utilize the carcass to increase value.”
Technologies to predict tenderness and promote growth enhancement were also discussed, as well as long-term opportunities for improving product flavor.
A new suggestion this year, Stiffler said, is to progressively seek out the input of culinary experts in order to recognize their wants and needs and to further utilize beef products.
The importance of information dissemination regarding new or improved beef products and beef in general was noted, and techniques, such as sponsorship of meetings and Web site expansion, were suggested.
Ronnie Green, Agricultural Research Service (ARS), gave an update regarding the complete mapping of the bovine genome, a process partially funded through NCBA. Green said following the completion of two final steps in the mapping process, the industry will have a tremendous database.
“Within the next two to three years, I think we’ll see some major, major advances,” he noted.
Other key topics addressed by the committee include development and implementation of tenderness-predicting technologies, transport and handling technologies and product utilization.
— by Crystal Albers, assistant editor, Angus Productions Inc.
© Copyright 2005 Angus Productions Inc.
Editor’s Note: This article was written under contract or by staff of Angus Productions Inc. (API), which claims copyright to this article. It may not be published or distributed without the express permission of Angus Productions Inc. To request reprint permission and guidelines, contact Shauna Rose Hermel, editor, at (816) 383-5270 or shermel@angusjournal.com.
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