AgNIC Beef Cattle

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For Consumers

More coming soon!

Aging Beef
These guidelines can help consumers determine the length of time their beef should be aged.
Beef Storage and Safety
This page describes food safety practices to avoid spoilage and foodborne illness.
Beef...from Farm to Table
This page addresses the most frequently asked questions to the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service.
Beef...from Farm to Table
This fact sheet, from the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service, answers potential consumer questions about beef. Questions answered include questions about production, inspection, grading, aging, labeling, and food safety.
Bovine spongiform encephalopathy
This Word document provides an overview of Bovine spongiform encephalopathy including information about the history of the disease and the disease's relationship to variant Creutzfeldt Jakob disease (vCJD) which occurs in humans.
Buying Beef for Home Freezers
This fact sheet contains questions and answers which may be helpful when one considers purchasing beef.
Cattle Feeding Industry
A PowerPoint presentation providing a brief history of feedlots in the US, the types of feedlots, information on weight gain of various classes of beef cattle, etc.
Chemistry of Beef Flavor
Beef flavor results from a myriad of compounds present in varying proportions that are affected by the precursor compounds available. This may depend on the breed of cattle and their diet, post-mortem changes, the muscle in which changes are occurring, addition of ingredients, storage conditions, heat treatment and postheating storage. Development of meaty, beefy flavor may be accompanied by development of a variety of off-flavors because many of the same precursor compounds are in both flavor groups. Impacting flavor requires control of all these various facets of flavor development.
Focus on Ground Beef
Frequently asked questions about ground meat or hamburger.
Food Product Dating
This page gives background information about product dating on meat and poultry.
Home Slaughtering and Processing of Beef
This guide, from University of Missouri Extension, is an overview of home slaughtering and processing of beef.
Information About Foot and Mouth for Nebraska Residents
This NebGuide, from University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension, addresses foot-and-mouth disease, its causes and how to control it.
Irradiation: Consumer Perceptions
Irradiation is a promising food safety technology that can reduce pathogens in foods. Irradiation and its effects on food, animals and the people eating irradiated foods have been studied extensively for more than 40 years and has been proven safe and effective. Irradiated wheat flour, potatoes and spices have been available for more than 15 years.
Making Ground Beef Patties and Sausage Safer
Premature browning of ground beef may not be as important an issue in the fast-food industry, but it is extremely critical in home and institutional preparation of ground beef patties. This page discusses the importance of correctly cooking meat in order to avoid serious foodborne illness.
Refrigerator & Freezer Storage Chart
This chart offers tips on how to safely store food in the refrigerator and freezer.
Understanding the Different Kinds of Beef in the Marketplace
For those consumers who have shown a preference, beef producers have responded by changing production methods to provide additional choices — natural, grass-finished and organic beef. It is important to understand, however, the true differences among these production methods, and the beef they generate.
Veal from Farm to Table
Facts about veal