By Jennifer Dorsett
Field Editor
Beef’s journey from the pasture to restaurant plate involves care and attention to detail from the ranchers who raise quality beef and to the chefs who prepare delicious recipes that consumers love.
To help connect those experiences, Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner, in partnership with Chef’s Roll, brought ranchers who follow Beef Quality Assurance (BQA) standards together with chefs for a new video series.
The BQA program trains farmers and ranchers on best practices in cattle management techniques to ensure animals and the land are cared for within a standard set of guidelines across the U.S. beef industry. More than 85 percent of U.S. beef now comes from BQA-certified farmers and ranchers.
In the series, chefs visit farms and ranches across America to see first-hand how beef gets its start. Then, ranchers head to restaurants to see how some of the chefs’ most popular beef dishes are prepared, bringing the BQA program full circle from pasture to plate.
In Arizona, Casino Del Sol Executive Chef Ryan Clark meets Dean Fish, manager of the historic Santa Fe Ranch near Nogales, to talk about the BQA process followed on the ranch.
“Beef Quality Assurance is a program ensuring beef producers do the right thing,” Fish said. “By the right thing, what I mean is taking care of the health and welfare of their livestock and being part of producing a safe, wholesome beef product.”
Next, the series heads to Oklahoma, where Tom Fanning, manager of Buffalo Feeders, shows Backdoor BBQ Executive Chef Kathryn Mathis how cattle feeding operations ensure quality control and animal welfare.
“Meeting Tom was amazing. He was very educational, very knowledgeable,” Mathis said. “Any question I had, he had a great answer for.”
Ensuring cattle are raised in a good environment and with the greatest care is the best way to bring high-quality beef to consumers, according to Fanning.
“BQA is in everything we do, whether it’s when receiving grain and our quality control for our ingredients that go into the rations, to cattle handling, cattle care in the pens and just the overall care and welfare of the animals,” Fanning said. “Because the right way is the only way.”
The other videos feature chefs and ranchers from Idaho and California. Click here to view all the videos and learn more about BQA.