Cows may be the bigwigs of the barnyard, but pigs and turkeys get all the attention come holiday season.
There's no holiday on the standard American calendar that demands beef: While Labor Day and Fourth of July celebrants might put burgers on the grill, nobody questions their patriotism if they cook up all-pork hot dogs instead. Ag Day's often observed with steak dinners, but--apologies to farmers and ranchers--the March holiday's no more momentous than Sweetest Day or Secretary's Day. It's hardly Thanksgiving or Christmas.
To counter all the turkey and ham talk those holidays inspire, the Texas CattleWomen annually sell beef gift certificates through dozens of Texas banks. The certificates, which work like cashier's checks, don't benefit the organization, program chair Dianne Buckingham says.
"This is just our way of promoting beef," she says. "Who wouldn't rather go out and eat a steak than a ham or turkey?"
The certificates can be redeemed for beef anywhere beef is sold, including restaurants and grocery stores.
Buckingham says the certificates are especially popular with feedlots and other agricultural businesses looking to cement relationships in December.
"They give them to their customers instead of a cap or a knife set or a ham or a turkey," Buckingham says.
