FRANKFORT, Ky. — Beef producers across Kentucky are celebrating May as Beef Month, and it couldn’t have come at a better time. It is the beginning of grilling season, and the beginning of a promotional initiative conducted by the Kentucky Beef Council (KBC).

The “Get Your Grill On” media tour will include events all across the state throughout the month of May designed to inform and educate the public on the goodness of beef. The tour will include grilling demonstrations highlighting two beef recipes, cooking tips, prizes and a grill giveaway from Holland Grill.

Agriculture Commissioner James Comer signed a proclamation during a ceremony last week to help kick off the month-long celebration. Members of the Kentucky Cattlemen’s Assoc. were also on hand to present Comer with a platter of choice cuts of beef.

“As one of nearly 40,000 beef cattle producers in Kentucky, I understand the importance of the industry to the state’s economy,” Comer said. “Beef cattle sales accounted for $615 million in cash receipts to Kentucky producers in 2010. Beef also is an important part of a balanced, healthy diet. I urge all Kentuckians to join me in commemorating May as Beef Month in Kentucky.”

He is founder and owner of James Comer Jr. Farms, a 950-acre beef cattle, timber and hay operation in Monroe County. He also co-owns Comer Land & Cattle Co., a family farming operation, with his father and brother, according to information from the Kentucky Department of Agriculture.

May is also Kentucky Derby month and KBC sponsored its first “Derby Burger Challenge” recipe contest. The event, coordinated by the Kentucky Derby Festival (KDF), invited anyone with a great burger recipe to enter.

Four finalists were brought together for a cook-off at one of the Louisville area Kroger stores, where Richard Glidden of Bardstown was pronounced the winner. His Derby Burger recipe has been featured at the local grocery store and will be served to guests at KDF’s Derby Eve Jam.

Alison Smith, KBC director of marketing, said the beef industry in the state is strong and on the move as far as the economy is concerned.

“In regard to cash receipts for farmers, we’ve moved up from fifth to third from 2009 to 2010,” she said. “Our herd size is maintaining and kind of in a holding stage for cattle production, but we’re still eighth in the nation and the largest (producer) east of the Mississippi.”

From a consumer standpoint, beef prices have increased, but Smith said the KBC is educating the public on value cuts of beef to help ease the pain on budgets while giving consumers the continued opportunity to enjoy beef products.

The beef checkoff program has helped in these efforts. It has helped promote beef products for years and still remains a driving force in helping producers find markets for their products. With a recent discovery of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in a California dairy cow, educating the public and promoting the industry is important to producers right now.

Smith said there has not been a BSE case discovered here in six years and thanks to a system and network of programs designed to keep such diseases out of the food chain, the U.S. beef supply remains safe.

“As a farmer myself, I’m thankful we have somebody that is watching our backs,” she said. “The main thing for consumers to remember is that beef is safe.”

Smith added because of instances like the BSE discovery, the checkoff program is especially significant in addressing media inquiries, and providing talking points to producers and retailers to reassure the public just how safe is their food supply. “The checkoff really helps us to keep consumers comfortable, as well as farmers,” she said.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reaffirms that safety factor. The agency reported the number of worldwide BSE cases has dropped significantly over the past 17 years, with only 11 cases detected in 2010. CDC information stated, “A system of strong interlocking safeguards protects human and animal health, as well as food safety, in the United States.”

Smith said the story of the BSE discovery really exploded on social media outlets and not through the mainstream media. It is through social media that producers can counter incorrect information, she emphasized.

“With technology like that, it’s imperative that we get out and tell our story, and we get out and get the factual information out. You have to be in that conversation because the generation coming up is going to be the main buyers of our products and that’s how they communicate,” Smith said.