In today’s Beef Buzz, senior farm and ranch broadcaster Ron Hays speaks with Mandy Carr Johnson, who leads the beef research efforts funded by the $1-per-head through the Beef Checkoff through theNational Cattlemen’s Beef Association. Carr explains that the research portfolio she oversees covers a wide range of topics aimed at supporting producers and strengthening the beef industry.
Johnson says her team manages several major research areas tied directly to the checkoff program. “The team I lead really is the one responsible for beef safety, particularly pre-harvest beef safety, product quality, human nutrition, sustainability, and then our consumer market research area, five areas of research,” Johnson said. She notes the work ranges from highly technical scientific studies to projects that examine consumer attitudes and purchasing behavior.
Because it is scientific research, Johnson emphasizes that results often take time to materialize. “Research is what they always say is a long-term investment,” Johnson said. She explained that projects typically address one question at a time and may require multiple studies as production practices and beef products evolve. “The product that we have today looks very different than the beef product of the 1960s,” she said, adding that industry changes require ongoing research to build updated knowledge that benefits producers.
One example of that evolving science is the industry’s work on red meat yield. Johnson says the current yield grade equation used to help determine how cattle are valued was developed decades ago. “That equation was developed in the 1960s—cattle today are very different than they were then,” Johnson said. She explained that researchers are now exploring modern technologies to better estimate the amount of sellable red meat produced from a carcass.
Johnson also highlighted sustainability research, including work tied to animal welfare and infrastructure needs for today’s larger cattle. She says consumer expectations remain central to the research strategy. “One of those things we come back to is someone has to want to buy the product, and that’s our consumers,” Johnson said. “We want to make sure that we address their questions and provide them with the best quality product that they can buy.”
The Beef Buzz is a regular feature heard on radio stations around the region on the Radio Oklahoma Ag Network and is a regular audio feature found on this website as well. Click on the LISTEN BAR for today’s show and check out our archives for older Beef Buzz shows covering the gamut of the beef cattle industry today.
