What Makes Grass-Fed Beef Farms Different

By Marissa Velazquez


Grass-fed beef farms are not anything like the large conglomerate companies that control most of the meat sales and distribution in this country. They consist of smaller ranches that have single ownership and raise their stock strictly on natural grazing roughage. The large corporations that control the bulk of the trade raise their cattle in huge feeding lots where they stay until fat enough to slaughter.

Changing to large feed lots and feeding the cattle grain rather than grass helped to control the production and supply of meat in America. It helped neutralize some of the things that can change without notice in the cattle industry. The weather, grazing conditions and market pricing became stabilized within a very short period of time. Since that time, however, nutritional experts have determined that the switch from pasture to feed lots was not in the best interests of the health of consumers.

When cattle were shifted from pasture to feeding lots certain nutrients that are commonly associated with overall good health began progressively diminishing from the meat that came from cattle. Omega 3 fatty acids, an element associated with heart and brain health has become significantly lessened overall.CLA, a effective cancer fighting element found in meat products has also dropped.

Omega 3 fatty acids are not just good for your heart and blood pressure. They also help with neurological issues that can happen as we age or ones such as depression and anxiety that can happen at any age. In addition to omegas there is another acid called CLA in grazing cattle that can effectively fight cancer.

The cattle that are raised in pastures on a natural diet can take up to a full year longer to mature enough to be finished. The calves are left with the mothers for eight to ten months to ensure they mature naturally. The body frame then puts down natural marbling rather than layering on of fat as can be found in grain fed cattle.

We now have over two thousand ranches in the North American continent operating on the concept that pasture grazing is the only way to raise cattle. Happily, the market for their product is growing at an amazing rate. Ranchers that once sold only to their neighbors now have means to reach nationwide markets.

Cattle that are kept in feeder lots are under constant stress. They get little or no exercise, are fed grain, which is an unnatural food for them, and some other additives in the food such as medications and at one point excess fat from slaughtered cattle was mixed into their food. All of these things add to the taste and texture of the meat that is produced. It is believed that if there is no stress in lives of cattle the end product is more tender and tastier than mass produced meats.

These farmers are not called organic farmers. They are a cut above organic. The farmers who raise these cattle must rotate their fields on a regular basis to ensure that there is no over grazing. The cattle are raised in a calm, stress free environment that encourages some of the best tasting meat found anywhere in the country. On grass-fed beef farms the main goal is producing the purest form of meat to the customer.




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