Governor Kim Reynolds has proclaimed May as Beef Month in Iowa. The Washington County Cattlemen’s Association are celebrating the occasion with a grilling event today. Join them from 11a.m. to 1:30p.m. at Hills Bank in Washington. They will be grilling hamburgers and ribeye sandwiches. This week, Mike Berdo with the Washington County Cattlemen’s Association spoke with KCII News about the importance of beef. “It does provide sustainability for the local economy and local businesses. From the restaurant across the street or a gas station. It creates a lot of jobs. In the diet it’s an excellent source of iron, protein and red meat. We have baby calves in the spring. Come this fall, we’ll ween them and then finish those animals and sell them to a packer. That’s our farm to table process.”

According to the Iowa Beef Industry Council, Iowa is eighth in the United States in cattle inventory with 3.65 million recorded as of January 1st. Beef cattle alone make up 890,000 head, ranking Iowa 13th in the country. More than 19,000 jobs in the state are directly related to the cattle industry and in 2017 Iowa’s cattle industry contributed more than $6.8 billion to Iowa’s economy.