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John Johnston is the butcher at Walgren’s Supermarket in Wauneta. He is cutting top sirloins for the display case at the market. He genuinely enjoys grilling steaks and sharing his knowledge. — Photo courtesy of Amanda Pankonin

How would you like your steak?

Governor Pete Ricketts has proclaimed May as “Beef Month” in Nebraska.

Cattle have always been an integral part of Nebraska.

Historian John Carter called the land a “Garden of Eden” for cattle, with “clean, plentiful water and grass as far as the eye can see,” as written in the Midwest Messenger, August 2020.

“Nebraska farmers and ranchers take great pride in producing high-quality beef to feed our state, nation and the world,” Ricketts said.

“Beef is part of a nutritious, healthy diet, and when consumers eat beef, they support the industry and encourage growth in the ‘Good Life’,” he said.

The cattle business began to thrive after the American Civil War due to the demand for beef needed for feeding thousands of Native Americans held on reservations.

This was a good time for anyone to start a herd.

Steers being brought in from outside the state were tough and lanky and not the best quality of meat desired by consumers.

To fulfill the demand, throughout the 1870s cattlemen began raising Hereford cattle that possessed highly valued traits such as marbling in the ribeye muscle as well as other desirable traits.

According to Hereford ranchers, no other breed of cattle has contributed more to the success of the state’s beef herds.

Also mentioned in the article, cattleman Alexander Hamilton Swan convinced a group of business associates to invest in the Omaha Stockyards in 1883 because of Nebraska’s central location and access to the railroad.

 

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