Australia-The first few days

Good Evening,

I have been traveling like crazy the past few days.  Right now its 9 pm on May 30th and we are Albany  in Western Australia.   I landed in Melbourne after traveling for 31 hours straight and was quickly taken on farm tours.  We were in Melbourne for less than 20 hours and then boarded a plane, headed for Perth.  After 5 more hours of flying, my mode of transportation changed to a car!

We have been traveling around touring ranches or farms, as they call them.  Talking to pure bred producers and commercial producers who use Lawson Angus semen or embryos.  Harry, the owner of Lawson Angus has formed unique partnerships with all these farms and has helped create a more genetically superior herd.

We have spotty internet and will be headed to Hopetown to calve, starting tomorrow.  Australia is beautiful by the way!  I am loving every minutes, lots of high quality Angus Cows and lots of beautiful sheep.

Steak? or Protein Powder?

Steak? or Protein Powder?

There is so much hype about the nutrition (or lack thereof) in beef. Should you just eat a huge juicy steak before a run or drink a protein shake? Is beef really all that it's cracked up to be? Let's consider a 6 ounce of steak and one-third cup of SFH Pure Whey Protein. The big juicy 6oz steak not only tastes delicious, but it provides 42 grams of protein. When we consider the protein powder, about 1/3 cup (equals to 1.056oz) provides 24 grams of protein. You sure can't forget to add in the sugar, stevia, and chocolate to the protein powder drink. Let's say you did not want to consume a 6 ounce juicy steak, you sure could eat a 4 ounce hamburger which provides 28 grams of protein, still better than the protein powder. Sadly, there is no scientific evidence which proves that the protein drink provides more nutrients than whole foods. Now, let's take a step away from the math equations and take a look at the newly conducted scientific experiments. Whole foods will stimulate metabolism and it will take more time to digest. This is known as the thermic effect accounting for the energy expended by our bodies to process and digest our food. There you have it, the facts, plain and simple. 

Now it's up to you to decide, Steak or Protein Powder? 
If I were you, I would choose Beef! It really is what's for dinner.

-Allie Nelson
Montana Beef Ambassador

Allie's thoughts on Meatless Monday's

Meatless Mondays

I feel it is ironic that my issues response for the Montana Beef Ambassador contest was Meatless Mondays. I recently read an article in a local magazine encouraging the “importance” of Meatless Mondays. Turns out, the editor of the magazine happened to be a family friend. I immediately addressed this concern to her, stating that Meatless Mondays hurt the beef industry significantly. Respectfully, I explained to her the importance of beef and the great amount of nutrition in only a 3.5oz of steak. She politely replied stating that she has no intention of hurting the beef industry, she is only encouraging consumers to have a diverse diet throughout the week. I am still conversing with her about her Meatless Monday article, and I am trying to show her how much it would affect us, the beef producers. I learned many things from this situation. For example, I realized some folks don’t understand exactly what they stand up for or believe in, they just do because their peers believe in that same topic. Give this story a little thought! Just remember.... BEEF! It’s what’s for dinner!

-Allie Nelson

Senior Montana Beef Ambassador

Vegan... Are you really a vegan?

Vegan

/ˈvēgən/

Noun

A person who does not eat or use animal products.

The beauty of America is we have choices about our food and we have the safest, most abundant food supply in the world.  Vegan, Are you really a vegan?  I don't think anyone is 100% vegan..

Yes, you may not eat meat or animal products but can you live without using any animal products.  No baseball, no volleyball, no basketball, no football... how many athletes claim to be vegan? 

Think about cattle for a moment, they produce tons of everyday items.  

Toothbrushes

Combs

Buttons

Dice

Marshmallows

Cellophane Wrap

Adhesive

Shampoo

Wall Paper

Film

Luggage

Artist Brushes

Felt

Medicines 

Crayons 

Floor Wax

gum

And the list goes on and on.   Everyday we use beef by-products, often without knowing it!  Unless you spend your whole life, making sure your floor wax or gum or shampoo doesn't have any animal products then you can't be 100% vegan. 

Dog food, dog toys, fertilizer and methane gas are also animal by-products.  It's impossible to live without animals. 

Ruminants consume grass, grain and hay and turn it into products we can use everyday!  They are the best recyclers out there.  Also, if you take most animal by-products out of our life, then you are substituting them with factory made items.  Do what is best for the environment and use the animal by products.  God put cattle, sheep and hogs on this earth for a purpose.  They are better for the environment than a factory any day!  

Who wants synthetic gum anyway?

Australia

Good Afternoon,

It would be time to share my good news!  I received an internship in Australia for roughly 45 days this summer. I leave May 25th and will be returning July 9th.

I will be blogging about my experience with Lawson Angus and international agriculture.  The first few weeks will be spent in Melbourne at the bull grazing unit.  Hopefully while I am in Melbourne, I will get to visit the Australian Dairy Association and Red Meat Council.  After about 3 weeks in Melbourne, Ben and I will be traveling across the county to Perth.   This will be a 2000 mile journey which will take us over 3 days.  While in Perth, we will be calving.  I looked at the weather and it will be winter while I am there which means 50-70 degrees and lots of rain.

I am looking forward to seeing different aspects of Australian agriculture and am so blessed with this opportunity!  Be sure to follow along on my journey where I will share stories and pictures!

Check out Lawson Angus website :) http://www.lawsonsangus.com.au/