Wisconsin Beef Council

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Good morning.

Speaker 2 (00:00):
I'm Robin Colbert and this is Madison Forum. I guess
this morning is Tammy Vasin. She is with the Wisconsin
Beef Council, which a little earlier this month announced the
big winner of the second annual Best Burger in Wisconsin contest.
It's a contest I know many of us Wisconsin Night's

(00:20):
love Tammy. Thank you so much for joining me this morning.

Speaker 3 (00:24):
We're happy to be able to share details about our
burger contest and helping to support our farmers here in Wisconsin.

Speaker 2 (00:32):
Absolutely, and actually I under so you're the executive director,
right of the Beef Council.

Speaker 4 (00:37):
Yes, I am.

Speaker 2 (00:39):
So you know a thing or two about beef. So
first let's focus on the beef. The Beef the Burger competition,
second annual this year.

Speaker 1 (00:50):
Now. Last year, I was kind of surprised. I was
reading about it.

Speaker 2 (00:52):
I was all excited, and it's it's just a fun
activity for people to go out and try all the
different burgers at very restaurants. Some people might even, you know,
take longer day trips than what they had planned so
they could check each one.

Speaker 1 (01:05):
Off their list.

Speaker 2 (01:06):
What I was surprised we didn't have something like this
already I know some local counties like Green County has
one going on right now.

Speaker 3 (01:15):
Yeah, Green County has had that long standing burger contest
and it really has drawn a lot of popularity down
there in that Monroe and throughout the rest of the county.
But yeah, this was an opportunity for us to really
elevate that even more so on a statewide level.

Speaker 4 (01:31):
We have some pretty good relationships with other state.

Speaker 3 (01:35):
Bus councils across the US, and some of our counterparts
had launched this type of a program a few years ago,
so we just thought it would be fun, a great
way to get people out and trying different beef burgers
across our states. Of course bringing them into a number
of the small businesses that do such a great job preparing.

Speaker 4 (02:00):
All beef products.

Speaker 3 (02:01):
Really in highlighting our industry here.

Speaker 2 (02:04):
The hamburger is universally loved and here in Wisconsin, you know,
people think, oh, you guys eat rats, you're all about brats.

Speaker 1 (02:12):
But now we're a pretty big burger state too, right.

Speaker 4 (02:15):
Oh, we absolutely are.

Speaker 3 (02:17):
And the popularity of this contest, really, with last year
being our first year, it kind of blew our socks
off perfectly on it and in the restaurants too, who
were named in our Elite eight just the fantastic increase

(02:37):
in traffic that they saw coming through their doors to share.
Pickles Bar and Grilla and Eaglehearst won the contest last year,
and they had to they had to start opening their
restaurant an hour earlier. They hired an additional sous chef
also that they could keep as many customers coming through

(02:58):
the doors and not having you long of a wait
time to be able to taste their delicious burgers. So
it really has served as as a roadmap, as you say,
for people to travel the state doing some day trips
to get out and try them. We saw on our
social media page already last week that someone posted they

(03:20):
had already been to six of the eight, uh since
we announced them on on April first.

Speaker 2 (03:28):
Okay, great, because yeah, we have a we have a
pretty solid group of hardcore supper clubbers. So it'd be
kind of fun, yeah, to have that same sort of
attention paid to you know, you're you're out of the
way little tucked away bar and grills and getting getting
them some more business as well. And i'd imagine after
the just the terrible times with the pandemic and when

(03:51):
there were lockdowns and what have you. These businesses could
sure used to use a boost.

Speaker 4 (03:58):
Yeah, they can.

Speaker 3 (03:59):
And even even when you talk about some of those
Northwoods establishments that have been a part of our contest,
you know we've had less no in the last.

Speaker 4 (04:08):
Couple of years.

Speaker 3 (04:09):
Being able to bring traffic into their doors and really
helped to support their business year round has been fantastic.

Speaker 4 (04:18):
And many of them have also come back and said, well.

Speaker 3 (04:21):
You know we're still a year later having new customers
come in as well as they've built up a new
regular customer base just by having that type of exposure.

Speaker 2 (04:33):
You know, fast food burgers, you know, they're they're ranked
all the time, like, oh this is the best. I
mean here locally, you can't beat Culvers. We're very proud
of Wisconsin based Culvers. But sometimes it's just a good
and Culver's does a pretty good bar Burger sort of deal.
But sometimes you just can't beat that bar Burger.

Speaker 3 (04:54):
No, that's right, And you know the rough job that
I have. I've been out to most of our burger contests,
to Elite eight restaurants, and they put such special care,
whether it's hand pattying, every burger that they make.

Speaker 4 (05:12):
It's it's making.

Speaker 3 (05:14):
Up special sauces, not just your regular condiments that you
can buy off the shelf, but they are hands making
a lot of these condiments. So there's there's a lot
of care and effort that goes into having a delicious
burger served up in all of these different locations.

Speaker 1 (05:34):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (05:34):
I love the creativity and some of the concoctions. A
few years ago, I never would have ever have dreamed
of what a peanut peanut butter burger? What are you
talking about? And I tried one and I was like,
oh my gosh, this is actually quite delicious. So you know,
some things that you think are so off the wall
crazy they actually work. But it's just fun seeing the

(05:57):
creativity and the artistry really that goes into it.

Speaker 3 (06:02):
Yeah, they are well, you know they they many of
them will do a burger of the week or a
burger of the month, and some of the restaurants have
told me that, you know what they have, They've been
doing the burger of the month for several years.

Speaker 4 (06:19):
And they've never had a repeat on that menu. So, uh,
it just it does.

Speaker 3 (06:25):
It takes creativity and of course the kitchen staff behind
the scenes.

Speaker 4 (06:29):
We've been doing all.

Speaker 3 (06:29):
Of that special preparation in putting out a quality product
each and every time.

Speaker 2 (06:39):
Now as far as the contest, so when do you
start taking when do you open up the application process?

Speaker 3 (06:47):
Yeah, So this year we opened the nominations the end
of February and had them open for like a thirty
day period, so any any person could come to our
website and nominate their favorite burger establishment. We do limit

(07:08):
that to one entry, one nomination per email address. And
then when we close those nominations done, we script through
all of those and figure out who made our Elite
eight list. We had over six thousand nominations this year,
so that was an increase Oh for how many year?

Speaker 4 (07:29):
One six thousand?

Speaker 1 (07:31):
Oh my god.

Speaker 3 (07:34):
Yeah. So it's it's a lot of it's a lot
of Excel reading and making sure that we've got legitimate
entries coming through. But you know, you've been talking with
some of the establishments. They kind of ransom internal campaigns
to really help boost their nomination numbers to ensure that

(07:56):
they would make the Elite eight list.

Speaker 2 (07:59):
Because that's theh So you go you go through all that. Wow,
that that's that's a full time job. And then some
going through so many applicants like that, and so you
just the first like the finalists, you go right to
the Elite eight, right.

Speaker 4 (08:15):
Yes, yeap, So if you if you have.

Speaker 2 (08:18):
You know, like how the Sweet sixteen goes, you know,
sixty four and then down to this and down to that.

Speaker 1 (08:23):
You just you start with the elite eight.

Speaker 3 (08:26):
We start with the Elite eight, and then we have
a secret panel of three judges. You travel the states
fun the evaluate all of the burgers based on taste,
its appearance, you know, proper.

Speaker 4 (08:41):
Overall experience, and then we take.

Speaker 3 (08:44):
Those scores to get our final number one ranking for
the winner of the Best Burger Contest.

Speaker 2 (08:52):
Oh and that's kind of covert burger tasting and guessing.
You get a lot of offers to be one of
those that goes out to do the secret tastings.

Speaker 4 (09:06):
Yes we have.

Speaker 1 (09:07):
Have you done it well?

Speaker 3 (09:09):
No, I don't judge, but I do go to I was.
I've been at seven of the seven of the eight
this year in just getting to know the owners a
little bit more and helping together some content that we
can share out on our social media pages too.

Speaker 2 (09:27):
And it is pretty you know, considering it's just eight
out of you know, six thousand submissions here, but I
see we're not really represented that much on the northwestern
side of Wisconsin.

Speaker 1 (09:40):
We've got a good.

Speaker 2 (09:41):
Number here in south central, Southeastern and a couple up
north western Wisconsin's got to get their act together, they do.

Speaker 3 (09:50):
We're really hoping to boost that up on this year
for our nominations process. So we're going to be doing
some additional outreach to that region so that we can hopefully, yeah,
get someone, get someone in there next year.

Speaker 2 (10:06):
I know off hand, I think it's is it West
Salem or out by Mendoro that way, there's like a highway,
it's like a highway one thirty three bar or something,
and they've got like one hundred and thirty three different
burgers on the menu.

Speaker 3 (10:18):
Oh my gosh, I'm gonna have to seek that one out.

Speaker 2 (10:21):
And yeah, it's just crazy. And I may be getting
I know it's one hundred and something. I may be
getting the highway number wrong. It's been a while since
I've been there, and I'm pretty sure there's still around.
But yeah, they just have an insane amount of burgers
and on their menu. So and I believe West Salem
or Lacrosse Jackson County area anyway. So yeah, around here

(10:44):
there's a lot if people want to just you know,
they don't have time to get up north and get
over to the Milwaukee area. There is one I think
it was on your Elite eight last year. It's definitely nominated.
Was that the Dump that's in Cambria?

Speaker 4 (10:59):
Yeah?

Speaker 3 (11:00):
Yeah, the Dump made it for two years in a
row until our lead dates. So they are definitely a
great stop to make.

Speaker 2 (11:08):
I have heard that over the years, even before this
contest got underway. Just it's on my list of places.
I can't believe I haven't been there yet, but I've
heard great things that the Dampa really serves up a
great burger, you know, opposite of their name. And so
the winner this year was out of a West Bend
let's see Brazen Headpub and tam if you wouldn't mind describing,

(11:31):
They call it the Brazen Beer Cheese Burger. What did
this all entail?

Speaker 3 (11:36):
Yeah, so the Brazen Beer Cheeseburger. It is a half
pounds of ground beef. They of course top that with
delicious cheddar cheese from here in Wisconsin, and then bacon
and onion rings. And then they also make an in
house beer cheese sauce that they pour over the top

(11:57):
of that and serve it on a pretzel rule or yeah,
but so absolutely delicious. It's so juicy and all of
those flavors just work together so well that I highly
recommend giving it a try.

Speaker 2 (12:15):
And is there a requirement participating? I imagine a lot
of participating restaurants and bars do this anyway? Use mostly
local ingredients, right, since it's right out, you know, on
our doorstep.

Speaker 3 (12:29):
Yeah. And a lot of them, you know, seek out
particular traits I guess, I don't know, I don't know
if traits is the right word, but qualities and the
burder that they're looking for. So and just visiting with
some of them, you know, some of them are really
featured on local. Some of them are looking for a
particular lean to fat ratio. It just depends on on

(12:54):
the establishment. But they are looking for very high quality
any products for sure.

Speaker 2 (13:01):
And this is I mean, this is the Beef Council contest.
So this is all beef. This isn't you don't toss
in like a Buffalo burger or Bisenberger or what have you.

Speaker 3 (13:10):
Nope, the mission of the Wisconsin Beef Council is to
grow demand for beef. So in creating this contest, we
are absolutely focused on one hundred percent beef burgers.

Speaker 2 (13:21):
If you wouldn't mind Tammy giving a little background on
the council itself. How long has it been around? I
see here it's not for profit organization, if you can
kind of just give an explanation about that.

Speaker 3 (13:33):
Right, So, the Waskona Beef Council has been around since
the mid eighties, and actually they were a promotion committee
even prior to that time. But we are funded by
our states farmers. So anytime cattle our soul, a dollar
per head is what we say, checked off, it comes

(13:54):
out of their check and goes into generic promotion and
marketing programs to ensure that we've got favorable demand for
beef throughout our state. So that dollar, fifty cents of
it stays within our state, and then the other fifty

(14:14):
cents goes to national marketing campaigns like the beef It's
What's for Dinner logan. So this is farmers have got
so much on their plates each and every day caring
for their cattle and their land, so they don't always
have the time to be out marketing their products. And
so that is why we were created as a Wisconsin

(14:36):
Beef Council.

Speaker 2 (14:38):
And you know, when you think of Wisconsin, obviously America's dairyland,
we think a dairy cat. Will we bring in a
good chunk of change when it comes to our beef industry.

Speaker 3 (14:51):
Yes, we do, and of course, you know the dairy
the dairy industry is also feeding into all of that.
But basically, our cattle industry in the day of Wisconsin
contributes over thirty four billion to Wisconsin's economy and we
have got over three million heads of cattle on our

(15:15):
farms across the state of Wisconsin. And that's a combination
of both our dairy and beef farms, so it is
a thriving business. Wisconsin is not necessarily known as a
beef state like you would think about Texas, Oklahoma, but

(15:37):
we have got high quality seedstock farmers here that are
known for the best of genetics in our state all
the way through to caring for cattle on feed lots
as they're maturing and growing into that harvest stage.

Speaker 2 (15:56):
So yeah, a lot of it here as far as
getting the best product. Lot of it genetics and what
you're you're feeding the animal. Uh Now, as far. I
didn't grow up on a farm. I know the difference
between a dairy cow and beef cattle. But when dairy
cows are no longer producing milk or they're used done

(16:17):
for beef too, right.

Speaker 4 (16:20):
Yes, they will enter the beef supply chain.

Speaker 3 (16:24):
And we do have a couple of regional packing plants
up in the Green Bay area that work work closely
alongside of our dairy farmers. And you know, we we
get a lot of high quality beef that comes off
of dairy farms today. And actually some of our I

(16:48):
should say a lot of our dairy farms are actually
using a cross breeding technique now, so they breed their
dairy type how to a beef animal, so that they're
trying to optimize sure and give the best of genetics
in the best of beef traits to the aus to those.

Speaker 2 (17:09):
A yeah, so once they're done, I don't even know
what they like the best producing years. How long does
a cow give good milk production? Is it about five
ten ure or is that way too much?

Speaker 3 (17:24):
I would say, yeah, probably right around five years five years.
See the average time that a cow is is inter
milking at are milking.

Speaker 2 (17:32):
Best and the longevity of your average cow, what is
that about fifteen or.

Speaker 3 (17:43):
No?

Speaker 4 (17:43):
No, probably in that five year range.

Speaker 2 (17:46):
Oh really, so they don't really I never I guess
I never looked into that or read up on that.
I just assumed, you know, they all look alike to me.
I didn't realize that their lifespan really isn't all that long.

Speaker 3 (18:00):
Yeah, I mean it's it's going to vary, and and
farmers are continually improving their genetics, so they're going to
keep the best of the best hows and they're in
their herd, and if that's if that's a longer period
of time and that animal is still being productive and healthy,
they will keep her as long as they can.

Speaker 2 (18:20):
Sure, yeah, because obviously they're you know, not keeping them
around his pets and to have them just hanging out
for as long as they can, I'm sure once they're
they've reached the expiration of what they can produce, then
that's that's that. And you answered my question here as
far as the taste of the meat. I was wondering

(18:41):
if a dairy cattle would taste as good as beef,
But you said the genetics and they're kind of improving
the feeds and all that, so you get a better product.

Speaker 3 (18:53):
Yeah, and that would you know, that cross breading that
I talked about, That would be cattle that are not
necessarily going to enter the milking herd per se, So
they're still going to want dairy treats using a dairy
cow in a dairy bull for the cows that are
going to enter their dairy herds. But you know, they

(19:16):
they don't they're not keeping every calf born on the
farm as the milking animal. So the calves that are
born that they know are going to be set out
just for you know, kept strictly to feed for beef.
Is where they're using that cross breeding technique.

Speaker 2 (19:37):
Okay, is there any region of the state. Does it
very region and region where they have better success or
is it all pretty uniform?

Speaker 4 (19:48):
I think it's all pretty uniform.

Speaker 3 (19:51):
We have got all sizes and types of farms all
across the state that are successful. They're great marketers, so
they nowhere their product is typically going to end up
when when they're marketing. And the other thing that Wisconsin
really has a true benefit of is that we've got

(20:14):
a number of small meat establishments that are processing and
you know, our they're they're partnering with our farmers to
process cattle and having the opportunity to market locally.

Speaker 4 (20:32):
That beef across our state.

Speaker 3 (20:35):
In fact, we've got like over five hundred licensed meat
establishments in sixty eight of our county, so very widespread
across the state.

Speaker 1 (20:45):
Now, as far as the whole tariff situation going on,
not the best time right now for farmers, right.

Speaker 3 (20:55):
Well, I mean it certainly is posing challenges uncertainty, I
guess I would say right now is as it is
in a lot of different industries. We are fortunate to
exports a lot of beef, not only from our state
but across the US, and the benefit to our farmers

(21:20):
and to our industry is that we're exporting products that
aren't necessarily in high demand here domestically. So whether that
is tongue or livers or hearts, you know, that's a
delicacy in a number of our foreign markets. And I

(21:40):
don't know the last time you ate any of those products.
They're not regularly served in my household. Like I said,
they're very high demand in those foreign markets. So we
also partner with an organization called the US Meat Export Federation,
and we have brought trade teams to Wisconsin from Japan

(22:01):
and from Central America to be able to showcase the
care that our farmers are providing for their animals, as
well as the beef products that can be exported from
our plants up in the Green Bay area. So it's
really adding demand for that entire for the entire animal,

(22:23):
whether it's the Ribbi's steak that's going to go to
a white tablecloth restaurant maybe in Milwaukee, or the heart
that's going to end up on a restaurant menu or
grocery store in a foreign country.

Speaker 4 (22:37):
Sure.

Speaker 2 (22:39):
So so a majority, Yeah, with exception to those delicacies.
So a majority of like Wisconsin's beef is exported domestically.

Speaker 3 (22:51):
Uh, you know, I don't know what person we're keeping,
you know, in state or within the US versus exporting.
I just I know that there's those certain parts of
the animal that that really are in high demand in
those foreign countries and gives us an opportunity to maximize

(23:16):
the value of each and every animal that we're raising here.

Speaker 2 (23:20):
Because we really don't import I mean all I can
think of off the top of my head, and I'm
not a world traveler, but I'm familiar with Kobe beef Japan.
So that's that's obviously an imported thing. But otherwise, I mean,
we're not importing this stuff.

Speaker 3 (23:36):
We do import, yes, some beef into the US, and
it kind of feeds back into our best burger contest.

Speaker 4 (23:48):
Because we ground beef is a mixture of.

Speaker 3 (23:55):
A combination of fat cattle, you know, the we have
feed lot cattle that are specifically being raised for high
quality beef, and but in order for us to have
our leaner grinds of beef, we also need to be

(24:16):
mixing that product with leaner beef, and cattle inventories in
the US right now are at all time lows.

Speaker 4 (24:27):
Really, yes, so we are.

Speaker 3 (24:30):
Importing beef from lean beef from other countries so that
we can make make enough lean ground beef to feed
into our burger uh sensation in cravings that we have
here in the US.

Speaker 2 (24:47):
Okay, interesting, I did, why is our cattle inventory so low?

Speaker 1 (24:52):
Has there?

Speaker 3 (24:53):
Did?

Speaker 1 (24:53):
Was there?

Speaker 2 (24:54):
Because as far as illness, disease wise or what have you,
it's all been about the chickens. And I couldn't recall
off the top of my head anything. I'm sure it's
always an ongoing concern to keep these things at bay.
But has the industry had a blow like that in
recent years or so.

Speaker 3 (25:12):
The biggest challenge that the beef industry has had is drought,
particularly in the West and southern states. So that has
limited speed availability for our cattle farmers and ranchers, so
they have had to make some difficult business decisions to

(25:33):
cut back on their herd sizes to ensure that they've
got adequate feed to keep those animals healthy and growing.

Speaker 2 (25:42):
Okay, yeah, so the top players as far as beef
you had mentioned before, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, that another one.

Speaker 3 (25:51):
Yep, Nebraska, kind of all of that South, sure, South
and like plain states really are are the drivers in
the beef industry. But you know, we've got we have
got cattle production all across the US, and you know,
depending on where your farm is based, you're going to

(26:13):
look at different types of feed sources of course, perhaps
different cattle genetics to optimize to optimize the growth and
well being of those animals.

Speaker 1 (26:25):
And I'm talking with Tammy Vasin.

Speaker 2 (26:28):
She is the executive director of the Wisconsin Beef Council,
and we're coming up on time, just a couple of
minutes left, and I did want to just circle back
to the the statewide or Best Burger in Wisconsin contest.

Speaker 1 (26:43):
The winners announced this month.

Speaker 2 (26:44):
And the reason it's done in May is because isn't
is it National Beef Month?

Speaker 3 (26:51):
Well, it's state by state, but it certainly is beef
months here in the state of Wisconsin during May.

Speaker 2 (26:57):
And do we have any other activities that are going
on to highlight the beef industry this month?

Speaker 3 (27:03):
We certainly do, and thanks for asking, Robin. We actually
have got a fundraiser going on right now that the
proceeds from some T shirt and sweatshirt sales will be
going to help provide beef to families in need across
our state through the Feeding Wisconsin food banks. So we

(27:27):
have our website at beeftips dot com if anybody is
interested in visiting that and making or purchasing our Fueled
by Beef apparel. Again, all of those proceeds will go
to Feeding Wisconsin and then within the Madison market especially there,

(27:48):
we do have Madison Burger Weeks coming up starting May sixteenth.
So May sixteen through the twenty third you'll find a
number of Madison area of restaurants that will be featuring
their specialty burgers and you can vote once a day
during that week for your favorite, and we'll be crowning

(28:12):
the overall winner of Madison Burger Week in early June.

Speaker 1 (28:17):
Wonderful. Does does Milwaukee do a Burger Week as well?

Speaker 3 (28:21):
I don't, not that we are aware of or that we're.

Speaker 4 (28:24):
A part of.

Speaker 1 (28:25):
Yes, well, and then they're missing out.

Speaker 4 (28:29):
They certainly are.

Speaker 2 (28:31):
As far as Yeah, the whole marketing is the main slogan.
I mean, I guess if you pick a winner, you
stick with it. The promotion beef, it's what for what's
for dinner? That's that's still used today, isn't it.

Speaker 3 (28:44):
It is yep, that has been our tried and true
slogan for the beef industry. And in that campaign and
any ads that see you see around that are funded
by our farmers and we know that beef is such
a nutritious source of protein.

Speaker 4 (28:59):
And bite men's and minerals.

Speaker 3 (29:03):
That will continue to keep beef top top of mind
here within our state.

Speaker 2 (29:09):
Well, it's so versatile, I mean another favorite well in
the hamburger or cheeseburger, I mean yeah, you can make
it so many different things, mushroom, swiss, or you can
go with the you know, the traditional just cheese onion, tomato,
or get all fancy with it with the famous or
special sauces and what have you, But just the meat itself.

(29:29):
I don't know about you, Tammy, but I love to
make meat loaf, and I love to eat meat loaf.

Speaker 3 (29:34):
I do too, Yeah, And I always like to try
different very me too. It.

Speaker 4 (29:38):
I think that's the funnest.

Speaker 3 (29:40):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (29:43):
Maybe in the winter Wisconsin's Best meat Loaf contest.

Speaker 1 (29:47):
I'll enter that. Oh okay, all right, Tammy.

Speaker 2 (29:50):
Thank you so so much for your time this morning
and all the interesting information, and looking forward very much
looking forward to the next to Burger in Wisconsin contests
that will be coming up next year. So remember, if
you own a bar, you know a place, you got
to get those in in February, right, that is.

Speaker 3 (30:09):
Right February into March is when we'll have those nominations open.

Speaker 1 (30:13):
All right, Tammy. Take care you've been listening to Madison
for him