Nebraska officials have always encouraged people to eat beef, which is the state's largest single industry.
But now they are putting something at stake. (Or is it steak?)
Gov. Pete Ricketts on Wednesday unveiled the "Good Life Great Steaks Nebraska Beef Passport," a program that encourages people to visit restaurants across the state and order beef off the menu.
Forty-one restaurants, stretching from Gering to Omaha, are participating in the passport program, which is sponsored by the Nebraska Beef Council.
The program allows anyone who visits a participating restaurant, orders a beef item and gets their passport stamped to enter a contest to win prizes ranging from a beef grilling package to an 80-quart cooler filled with $500 worth of beef.
The passport program coincides with Ricketts' proclamation of May as Beef Month in the state.
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He said Nebraska's beef industry weathered the coronavirus pandemic pretty well, with exports down only 4% last year, but it's important to highlight the industry in light of attacks that have been coming from "radical environmentalists to Bill Gates."
Highlighting beef through the passport program also will help restaurants, which are finally starting to see customers return as pandemic conditions have improved, Ricketts said.
"I think we are seeing people going back to restaurants, and I do think this beef passport will help encourage people to (visit restaurants) all around the state," he said during a news conference at Misty's Steakhouse & Brewery in downtown Lincoln.
Both Misty's locations are participating in the passport program, as is Schilling Bridge Cork & Tap House.
Other area restaurants participating include Round the Bend Steakhouse near South Bend and Chances R Restaurant & Lounge in York.
You can order a passport from the Nebraska Beef Council website, , and you have until Sept. 7 to collect stamps. Full details and contest rules are posted online.