Celebrate Beef Month

Ryan Quarles Commissioner of Agriculture

Happy Beef Month! I encourage Kentuckians to join me in supporting our cattle producers by serving delicious Kentucky Proud beef during the month of May. As the spring weather warms, go outside, fire up the ole grill, and cook up some tasty steaks or mouthwatering Kentucky Cattlemen's Ground Beef patties!

Speaking of those delicious burgers, during the first week in April, Kentucky Cattlemen's Ground Beef exceeded $5 million in farm gate sales in its first five years of existence. The Kentucky Proud product, which debuted in 80 new Kroger stores last month, has impacted 351 cattle farms in 76 Kentucky counties, with 5,500 cows sold into the program.

I’m proud that our beef producers continue to provide quality protein as part of a healthy, balanced diet. Buying Kentucky Proud beef helps Kentucky producers provide for their families while supporting our economy right here at home.

To celebrate Beef Month, the Kentucky Beef Council will donate 1 ton of Kentucky Cattlemen’s Ground Beef to a Louisville food bank on Saturday, May 20 during Beef Night at Louisville Slugger Field.

With 895,000 head of beef cattle in the commonwealth, Kentucky’s beef inventory ranks 14th in the nation and remains the largest east of the Mississippi River. Kentucky is home to 38,000 beef cattle producers among the 73,500 total farms in the state.

Kentucky produced approximately 697 million pounds of beef in 2021 valued at more than $806 million. Beef cattle sales accounted for approximately $878 million in cash receipts to Kentucky producers in 2021 and gross income of $890 million. Cattle cash receipts rank fourth among Kentucky commodities and account for 13 percent of total agricultural receipts.

University of Kentucky agricultural economist Kenny Burdine said beef cattle prices were higher in 2022 for heavy feeders and calves. Average prices increased $17 to $154 per hundredweight in December 2022 from a year before, but higher production costs eroded most of that profit for farmers.

Drought in much of the U.S. last year led to an extremely high slaughter of female cows, resulting in a 3-4 percent reduction in beef cow inventory this year. Burdine predicted that will result in the highest prices paid to cattle farmers since 2015.

The Kentucky Department of Agriculture (KDA) helps producers find new markets for their cattle, conducts beef cattle shows, tracks market prices, and protects Kentucky’s herds from disease. To find out more about the department’s services, go to kyagr.com.

Through the KDA’s Office of Agricultural Policy, 38 Kentucky meat processors have been awarded $9,520,471 from the Kentucky Agricultural Development Fund (KADF). Included was $4,753,825 from the Meat Processing Investment Program, $2,766,646 in Kentucky Agricultural Finance Corp. loans, and $2 million as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act. The KADF has also invested more than $20 million in the Kentucky Beef Network since its inception.

The KDA will now be better prepared to protect Kentucky cattle thanks to our state legislators passing a bill to create the infrastructure for a new division within the KDA’s Office of the State Veterinarian (OSV). Senate Bill 46 (SB46) enhances the department’s preparedness and response to animal emergencies.

SB46 creates the infrastructure for the Emergency Preparedness and Response Division, within OSV. The bill allows OSV to be better positioned for its principal role in protecting Kentucky livestock against disease and natural disasters, while at the same time completing the other tasks that maintain the health of the state’s herds and flocks.

I want to thank our hard-working folks at OSV and assure them that help is on the way! And I think I speak for all Kentuckians by thanking our cattle farmers for continuing to put delicious Kentucky Proud beef on our dinner tables all year round.