Beef producers pass a good time

The celebration at the 30th annual “Here’s the Beef Cook-off” was entirely appropriate as the beef industry enjoys good times.
Jay Guidry, president of the St. Landry Parish Cattleman’s Association, said, “The industry is great. Cattle prices are higher than have ever been, which is keeping up with the costs -- with everything to raise cattle.”
Sunday’s cook-off at the St. Landry Parish Ag Arena featured about 20 booths and 60 dishes for a crowd of about 500 people to sample.
“We cook everything here but the moo,” he said.
The beef offerings spanned hamburger to tongue, he said.
Guidry, a Lewisburg farmer, said this year’s cook-off was different than previous years.
“We got some business sponsors and that helped us keep the entry fee at $5,” he said. “We are striving to keep it that way. It is a family event.”
Veteran cook-off leaders, Daniel and Genevieve Lyons of Church Point, kept busy organizing the judging, but paused to comment on the 30-year-old event and the beef industry.
Genevieve Lyons said the event started with the St. Landry Chamber of Commerce, but after two years was produced by the cattlemen and cattlewomen’s associations.
“They wanted to cook chicken and they went to talk to the county agent,” she said. “The county agent said ‘No chicken in St. Landry Parish, maybe yard chickens, but no commercial production.’ So, they went with beef.”
Daniel Lyons was president of the parish cattlemen’s association at the time and he explained the difference three decades has made in the beef industry.
“The price the farmers are getting is the biggest difference,” he said. “Over the the last 30 years the beef industry has developed new ways of producing leaner meat.”
Lyons said, “Through research we changed the feeding, we changed some breeding, some genetics, to put less fat on these animals.”
What farmers receive for their production fluctuates, he said.
“We are getting better prices now,” he said. We are getting closer to what the farmers should be getting, but we are not there yet. The fight you have it you have to make sure the consumer will accept your product for the price you are putting it out there for. You can’t go too high. It is a juggling deal.”
Lyons said prices farmers received 30 years ago where lower, but production costs were also lower.
Genevieve Lyons, who is present of the parish cattlewoman’s assocation and the state’s representative on national Cattle Beef Board, echoed the glowing assessment of the cattle industry.
“It is good, it is global,” she said. Customers across the globe recognize the value of red meat protein “and they are looking to the United States,” she said.
She also had some beef-cooking tips.
“Don’t over cook it because you are cooking the juices out of it,” she said. “There are some cuts you need to cook for longer, some you can grill, some you can braise, some you can roast, but you have to know which cuts are which.”
Sunday’s event was as much about the music and fellowship as the beef.
Gary Johnson of Eunice said it was his first time attending the cook-off.
“I love it,” he said. “I’m having a blast.”