With the weather warming up and the days getting longer, more and more Americans are enjoying great tasting beef entrees cooked on the grill. May has been declared "Beef Month" by every governor of Kansas for the past 25 years.

We all know that Kansas is referred to as the "Wheat State"; however the Kansas cattle industry generated $6.25 billion in cash receipts during 2006, which is 60% of the 2006 cash receipts in Kansas.

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On January 1, 2008, Kansas had 6.7 million cattle on ranches and feedlots, ranking third nationally. That represents nearly two and a half times the Kansas human population of 2.7 million.

Kansas ranks first in the number of commercial cattle processed with 7.7 million head (2007). Live animal and meat exports total $449.8 million, landing Kansas in the third spot (2006). Kansas is second in fed cattle marketing's with 5.14 million head (2007), which is 22.9% of all cattle marketed from 1,000+ head capacity feedlots in the US.

Kansas has 31,000 farms with cattle and calves allowing Kansas to be third in total red meat production at 6.2 billion pounds (2007). In addition, Kansas ranks first in hides and skins exported from the US, totaling $382.2 million (2006).

Kansas ranks seventh in the nation in the number of beef cows; there are 1.51 million head of beef cows on Kansas farms and ranches.

Meat packing and prepared meat product manufacturing provides employment for over 18,700 Kansas residents. These groups make up the largest share of the food processing industry in Kansas, which is the state's second largest industry only behind transportation manufacturing.

Cattle are the ideal mechanism for efficiently utilizing grasses and plants growing on the 18.3 million acres of pasture and rangeland of the 47.2 million total acres of farm ground in Kansas.

These acres are not suitable for the production of crops and would be wasted if it were not for cattle turning these resources into essential protein and nutrients for human use. From the rest of the farm ground, cattle consume 72% of the corn, 60% of the hay, and 16% of the soybeans produced in Kansas.

For more information on beef products, recipes, and nutrition visit HYPERLINK "http://www.kansasbeef.org" www.kansasbeef.org. Wishing you a safe and tasty grilling season!

Facts and figures in this article were provided by the Kansas Beef Council, Kansas Ag Statistics, and the Kansas Department of Labor.

Editor's Note: Delta George is a K-State Research and Extension agriculture and 4-H extension agent assigned to Bourbon County. She may be reached at (620) 223-3720.