Jeanne - Simme Valley
Well-known member
This is a great article from Drovers:
Brown eggs, grain and truth in marketing
I know people, you probably do too, who believe brown eggs are somehow healthier than white eggs. You can explain to them that the pigment in egg shells simply relates to the pigment in chicken feathers, meaning dark hens lay brown eggs and white hens lay white eggs.
But you know what? They'll still pay more for brown eggs. And that's just fine, because it creates a market for farmers who produce them.
On a related topic, this week's beef news includes results of a Texas AgriLife Research study comparing beef from pasture-fed and grain-finished cattle. The team of researchers looked at the effects of ground beef from both production systems on the blood lipids in a group of volunteers. They found that ground beef from grain-fed cattle, which is high in monounsaturated fats, increased HDL cholesterol, increased LDL particle diameters, and decreased insulin, all good things. Grass-finished beef did not provide the same beneficial effects in this study.
Texas A&M meat scientist Stephen Smith, one of the researchers on the project, concludes that the longer cattle are fed a corn or grain-based diet, the healthier the product will be.
So, does this mean the rest of the industry should pile on the grass-finishing producers, attack their production system and disparage their product? I certainly hope not.
Grass-finished beef offers consumers a choice, and some prefer it based on its flavor or their perceptions of health, environmental or animal-welfare benefits. That consumer demand creates a viable and hopefully profitable niche for producers who have the resources and ability to produce and market the product. The same applies to "natural," "organic" or other specialized production practice for beef, dairy, pork or other animal-based foods.
The U.S. livestock industry has worked for years to become more "consumer focused," but at the same time we remaine rooted in tradition and, to some extent, defensive of our methods regardless of consumer opinions.
Our position at Drovers and food360 is to advocate for all livestock producers. We want to see America's farm and ranch families earn healthy profits for their hard work and dedication to producing healthy, wholesome and affordable food. We hope they stay on the land, maintaining our country's proud agrarian traditions for generations to come. If, for some, the path to success is through production of natural beef, grass-fed dairy, free-range pork or brown eggs, we applaud and support their efforts.
Our only gripe is when advocates of a particular production system decide the way to market their product is by attacking the rest of the industry and slandering their fellow producers. We've all seen these kinds of statements. "Our beef isn't pumped full of antibiotics and hormones like all that other stuff." Or "Our milk comes from happy cows, not the ones raised in torturous, polluting factories."
And it's not just the occasional niche producer who's guilty of negative campaigning. Supporters of conventional production do it too, issuing statements questioning the wholesomeness of niche products or the environmental or animal-welfare impacts of their production practices.
It doesn't need to be that way. Today's consumers want choices, and some are willing to pay premiums for attributes that help them feel better about their food purchases.
And most producers recognize that we're all in this together. I recently interviewed Scott Stone, of Yolo Land and Cattle Co. in California. This family beef operation has found a niche selling grass-fed beef through local farmers' markets and other channels. But, Stone stresses, they do not disparage other beef or production practices in the process of promoting theirs. After all, he says, the family still markets the majority of their cattle into grain-finishing systems, resulting in a wholesome and high-quality product for consumers. The way he sees it, if some consumers are willing to pay premiums for beef with additional attributes such as locally produced and grass finished, there is an opportunity for producers to capitalize on their preferences.
The bottom line is that our livestock production systems – beef, pork, dairy, conventional or niche – produce an abundance of wholesome, nutritious food. They do so with increasing efficiency and ongoing improvements toward minimizing environmental impacts, improving animal welfare and assuring food safety.
So if consumers want brown eggs, sell them brown eggs. But market them as brown eggs, not anti-white eggs.
Brown eggs, grain and truth in marketing
I know people, you probably do too, who believe brown eggs are somehow healthier than white eggs. You can explain to them that the pigment in egg shells simply relates to the pigment in chicken feathers, meaning dark hens lay brown eggs and white hens lay white eggs.
But you know what? They'll still pay more for brown eggs. And that's just fine, because it creates a market for farmers who produce them.
On a related topic, this week's beef news includes results of a Texas AgriLife Research study comparing beef from pasture-fed and grain-finished cattle. The team of researchers looked at the effects of ground beef from both production systems on the blood lipids in a group of volunteers. They found that ground beef from grain-fed cattle, which is high in monounsaturated fats, increased HDL cholesterol, increased LDL particle diameters, and decreased insulin, all good things. Grass-finished beef did not provide the same beneficial effects in this study.
Texas A&M meat scientist Stephen Smith, one of the researchers on the project, concludes that the longer cattle are fed a corn or grain-based diet, the healthier the product will be.
So, does this mean the rest of the industry should pile on the grass-finishing producers, attack their production system and disparage their product? I certainly hope not.
Grass-finished beef offers consumers a choice, and some prefer it based on its flavor or their perceptions of health, environmental or animal-welfare benefits. That consumer demand creates a viable and hopefully profitable niche for producers who have the resources and ability to produce and market the product. The same applies to "natural," "organic" or other specialized production practice for beef, dairy, pork or other animal-based foods.
The U.S. livestock industry has worked for years to become more "consumer focused," but at the same time we remaine rooted in tradition and, to some extent, defensive of our methods regardless of consumer opinions.
Our position at Drovers and food360 is to advocate for all livestock producers. We want to see America's farm and ranch families earn healthy profits for their hard work and dedication to producing healthy, wholesome and affordable food. We hope they stay on the land, maintaining our country's proud agrarian traditions for generations to come. If, for some, the path to success is through production of natural beef, grass-fed dairy, free-range pork or brown eggs, we applaud and support their efforts.
Our only gripe is when advocates of a particular production system decide the way to market their product is by attacking the rest of the industry and slandering their fellow producers. We've all seen these kinds of statements. "Our beef isn't pumped full of antibiotics and hormones like all that other stuff." Or "Our milk comes from happy cows, not the ones raised in torturous, polluting factories."
And it's not just the occasional niche producer who's guilty of negative campaigning. Supporters of conventional production do it too, issuing statements questioning the wholesomeness of niche products or the environmental or animal-welfare impacts of their production practices.
It doesn't need to be that way. Today's consumers want choices, and some are willing to pay premiums for attributes that help them feel better about their food purchases.
And most producers recognize that we're all in this together. I recently interviewed Scott Stone, of Yolo Land and Cattle Co. in California. This family beef operation has found a niche selling grass-fed beef through local farmers' markets and other channels. But, Stone stresses, they do not disparage other beef or production practices in the process of promoting theirs. After all, he says, the family still markets the majority of their cattle into grain-finishing systems, resulting in a wholesome and high-quality product for consumers. The way he sees it, if some consumers are willing to pay premiums for beef with additional attributes such as locally produced and grass finished, there is an opportunity for producers to capitalize on their preferences.
The bottom line is that our livestock production systems – beef, pork, dairy, conventional or niche – produce an abundance of wholesome, nutritious food. They do so with increasing efficiency and ongoing improvements toward minimizing environmental impacts, improving animal welfare and assuring food safety.
So if consumers want brown eggs, sell them brown eggs. But market them as brown eggs, not anti-white eggs.
