DYK Cows Can Upcycle?

Dexter is back this week with a new round of Did You Know with some Beef Month facts for you.  When I was in school they called it recycling, but now the cooler term is up-cycling trash into something more valuable.  -A Kansas Farm Mom

Did you know May is Beef Month?  For the beginning of the month I want to share why I like to think about how cows are the ultimate up-cyclers. 

Did you know that cows eat the corn leftovers from ethanol production called dried distillers grains that is high in protein? They can also eat the leftovers from beer and whiskey production called brewers dried grains. 

Soybean meal is the most widely used protein source in livestock feeds. Did you know most vegetable oil is soybean oil? I guess you can say that soybean meal is the leftovers from our fried food fascination.

Everyone likes to wear cotton t-shirts and a good pair of blue jeans. Cows like the leftovers of that too! The seed has to be removed from the cotton fiber. The seed is then pressed for the oil. The leftovers are made into cottonseed hulls and cottonseed meal for cows. The meal is high in protein and the cottonseed hulls can be fed for fiber or we can even feed the whole seed (mainly to dairy cows).  We feed several pounds of cottonseed hulls to our show heifers. Dairy farmers even feed while cottonseed for protein and energy.  Check out this post called Trash to Nutritional Treasure from the Arizona Beef Blog for more information.

Beet pulp can be fed to cows, too. Beet pulp is the leftovers of making sugar from sugar beets. Our heifers can eat beet pulp for fiber. The cows enjoy are sugar addiction, too.

Not only do they eat of our leftovers, but 85% of the ground that cows graze is not suitable for crop production. My friend Dairy Carrie has a great post on what they feed their dairy cows and links to other farms and ranches who share their upcycled feed even from oranges.  For even more information about Bovine Upcycling with lots of great statistics check out this post from Cow Country Blog.

Cows truly keep the earth cleaner for all of us and produce high quality protein that we can all enjoy. We have enjoyed this new casserole mom found this winter. 

Beefy Cheesy Cornbread Casserole

1 pound ground beef

½ cup chopped onion

Salt and pepper

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 (8.5 oz) Jiffy Cornbread mix

1 egg

1 can cream style corn

2 cups Monterey Jack or Cheddar Cheese

Preheat oven to 350*F.  Butter the bottom and sides of 8x8 casserole dish.

Brown and drain beef and onion.  Add seasoning and stir well.  In a small bowl, combine cornbread mix, egg, milk and corn.  Stir well.  Pour half of cornbread mixture into dish.  Add beef and onion and spread evenly.  Add cheese and remaining cornbread mixture.  Bake 35-40 minutes.

 For more posts written by Dexter, check out the Mad Cattle Co. tab on this page.