Cattle nutritionist for Zoetis, Dr. Gary Sides, spoke to producers during the Cattle Industry Convention’s Cattlemen’s College on modern agriculture in a culture of Facebook. There he discussed government, environmental and cultural issues that affect beef consumption and the cattle industry and I sat down with him to learn more.
It is old news that our industry is constantly under attack and many times producers don’t know how to respond to those attacks. Are you aware that new scientific summaries show salt consumption has no effect on blood pressure? Did you know saturated fats in beef may reduce your risk of heart disease? Can you defend and promote beef consumption and technologies we currently use to efficiently, safely and humanely produce beef? These were just a few issues he addressed, providing key facts producers were able to take home and add to their tool belt.
One of those hot button issues was fat in beef. “When you look at the fat in beef, it is mainly comprised of fatty acids that are actually heart healthy. They raise the good cholesterol, lower the bad cholesterol and in a simplified nutshell are good for you. The culprit in obesity, diabetes are diets based on high carb intake.”
Food is emotional for consumers. Sadly, science doesn’t seem to carry much weight. “When I give my message about why beef is good nutritionally and why our production techniques are good for the environment, the animal and the consumer I tell them I buy my food from Walmart. I feed my children and my grandchildren conventional foods. If I thought there were any chance that the technology we used to produce cattle would affect my family I wouldn’t buy food at those places.”
Dr. Sides also spoke to cattle nutritionists about the launch of a new implant from Zoetis called Synovex One. Listen to my complete interview to learn more about how it can be used and it’s advantages to other similar compounds. Interview with Dr. Gary Sides, Zoetis
Photos from the Convention: 2016 Cattle Industry Convention Photo Album
