Farmer's Daughter Guest Blog: Brianna Buseman

Posted: 6/27/2016

While listening to the news or scrolling through social media, I often hear stories or see posts about the “bad things” that are happening in the Ag industry.  Growing up on a farm, I know that these things that are supposedly bad are nothing like what is being portrayed in the media.  One example of this is the use of hormones in cattle production. 

On our farm, we use growth promotants, also known as hormones, to help our cattle grow to their maximum potential.  Using hormones increases feed efficiency, meaning that the cattle use the nutrients in the feed to gain more muscle without having to drastically increase the amount of feed they consume.  The use of hormones often sparks many questions about the impact of eating these products.  By doing a little research, I found a study done at UNL, which gave great insight into these questions. Here is what I found:

In one, three ounce serving of beef, there is 1.9 nanograms of estrogen.  One nanogram is equivalent to one billionth of a gram.  In one serving of cabbage, there are 2,000 nanograms of estrogen.  By doing a little math, we can figure out that in order to consume the same amount of estrogen from beef as you would cabbage, it would be necessary to eat approximately 1,052 servings, or 197 pounds of beef! Considering that the average American eats approximately 54 pounds of beef per year, it would take over 3.5 years to reach this mark.

Now, by no means do I wish to discourage you from eating cabbage! The point is this; no matter what you eat, hormones will be present.  Because of this, you do not need to fret about consuming products that have been produced with the use of hormones. You can buy with confidence because the numbers don’t lie!

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