A good argument for grass fed, pastured beef over grain fed, feed lot beef

[Cornhusker]

We took the same rib eye steaks to Maxxam Analytics to see if there were nutritional differences. The lab tested red meat taken from the centre of the steaks.

The results show the tenderness the chef detected in the grain-fed beef comes at a nutritional cost. The grain-fed beef had almost four times the fat as the grass-fed.
We sent the results to Liz Pearson, a nutritionist and writer.

“[The grass-fed beef] was over 70 per cent less saturated fat and over 70 per cent less total fat. So, definitely, the pasture beef is lighter than the regular beef. The pasture beef is a healthier product for the consumer.”

The grass-fed steak contained twice the amount of beta carotene, which helps fight cancer. There were no hormone or antibiotic residues in either. The grass-fed steak appears to be much better for you. But the samples were considered too small to be statistically significant.
http://www.cbc.ca/consumers/market/f...ef/index2.html

And we wonder why we are getting fatter and having more health problems while eating the "same" food we always have.
Grow your own isn't just cheaper, it's healthier too.

[sugarbush]

I buy one off a local farm in the fall....its all grass fed and costs me 1.15 lb on the hoof plus .40 lb dressed for processing. Best part is I get everything for less than what ground beef cost in the store.

[LagoVistaFarm]

Can't you get lynched in Nebraska for promoting grass fed beef?

[Ramblin Wreck]

It's the way to go...grass fed that is, not lynching.

[Cornhusker]

Originally Posted by LagoVistaFarm

Can't you get lynched in Nebraska for promoting grass fed beef?

probably, but some of the old timers are coming around to my way of thinking.
they blame commercial meat for a lot of what ails them.

[unioncreek]

It depends a lot on the breed of beef you are referring to also. I'm not putting down grassfed, because it has it's advantages. I run my Longhorn/Angus yearling son grass while feeding them grain. I haven't done any nutritional testing and don't plan on it. Longhorn's will marble faster that the English breeds and have a lower saturated fat content. I was raised on grain fed beef and ate some grassfed Highland beef once and didn't like it at all. That's why I raise my calves the way I do and have a waiting list for them.

Bobg

[LagoVistaFarm]

I absolutely agree on the grass fed being better for people and the world. There is a flavor difference and I wonder if people get accustomed to a particular flavor at an early age, it may create a preference.

We’ve tried very highly regarded grass fed beef. Cows with an ocean view and yoga classes. The stuff served in some of the best restaurants in San Francisco, and honestly it just can’t beat the flavor of a rib eye at Grandpa's Steakhouse in Kearney. This may be our preference or training, but there is definitely a flavor difference.

[Cabin Fever]

70% less fat = shoe leather

[RockyGlen]

We do not like grass fed beef at all. Have tried several different breeds. They are tasteless, and to quote Cabin Fever, "shoe leather."

America is not fat because they eat good tasting beef. We are fat because we sit on our behinds all the time, instead of getting out and working or playing it off.

I really, really, really detest the fact that good tasting food is not as available as it used to be just because people don't exercise self control in their eating/exercise habits.

Even Dunkin Donuts is saying they are going to no-trans fats. Why on earth would you try to make a healthy donut? That defeats the purpose of a donut..........and the three or four times a year that I crave a donut are now going to be ruined.

rant off. :X

[cornykid]

I am new here, but really wanted to get in on this grass fed, grass finished dicussion. We have a purebred Black Galloway herd, and we have been grass finishing for a number of years. Our meat is not shoe leather, and I have even converted my "traditional farmer" dad to our meat, and he thinks that it is the best. If you have had a bad experience with grass finished there is the chance that it was not done properly. There is alot of things to consider when grass finishing, breed, genetics, condition of pastures, etc. I hope that those who have had a bad experience will give it another chance, and find someone who know how to do it the right way. Our meat is so well received that I can't keep any in stock and always have a waiting list.

[wy_white_wolf]

Originally Posted by Cabin Fever

70% less fat = shoe leather

Yep! Always wonder why more don't do think my gandfather did. The steers that hw kept for us to butcher were allowed to eat as much grass/hay as the wanted. We would supplement them with about 2 pounds of oats or corn a day. They'd be waiting by the feedbarn every evening for it. We ended up with what I feel was the best beef around from it.

Just remember to much of anything is a bad thing. Be it feedlot grain or pasture grass.

[Cornhusker]

I'm not arguing the corn fed stuff is more tender, it's also younger as a rule.
I remember one time years ago, we butchered a 10 year old canner cow. It was grass fed, and even the hamburger was tough.
But, then, it was 10 years old.
I've ate grass fed beef that was better than any of that mushy Wal-Mart beef.

[Cabin Fever]

To be honest, we purchase about 10 lbs of beef a year total....no kidding! 99% of our "red meat" is venison.

[Cornhusker]

Originally Posted by wy_white_wolf

Yep! Always wonder why more don't do think my gandfather did. The steers that hw kept for us to butcher were allowed to eat as much grass/hay as the wanted. We would supplement them with about 2 pounds of oats or corn a day. They'd be waiting by the feedbarn every evening for it. We ended up with what I feel was the best beef around from it.

Just remember to much of anything is a bad thing. Be it feedlot grain or pasture grass.

I don't think it hurts to throw a little grain at them when finishing them off.
Feedlot cows are fed primarily corn with a little hay and other stuff mixed in. The younger stuff has more hay, but are quickly moved to "hot" feed which has very little (if any) hay in it.
The hot feed is mostly corn.

[RockyGlen]

We grass feed, and then finish with milo. YUM.

[ksfarmer]

My cardiologist told me if I quit eating beef , he could guarantee me 5 years longer life. I told him, "quite frankly, it wouldn't be worth it". Never saw him again, I got a new cardiologist. So far, I've outlived 2 cardiologists..................

[Jim S.]

I'm a former cattleman and I am pro grassfed, and I have tasted some grassfed beef that is excellent. The way you get shoe leather meat is when you leave out the genetic factor.

If you are taking the usual grainfed suspects (Continental-Brahman-Holstein/Angus crosses) and simply putting them on grass to finish instead of grain, you will get a terrible product.

The best grass-fed beef comes from cattle genetically predisposed to very easy fattening. This used to be the case for English breeds in the '50s, when the grain portion of a finished steer's diet was 50-75% lower than today. Substantial numbers of Western cattle came to the butcher without ever seeing a feedlot.

A Hereford cow looked much different then than now. See this fascinating cattle type history reference:
http://www.msu.edu/~ritchieh/historical/cattletype.html

Ironically, reliance on corn juxtaposed with a public wishing leaner meat led to cattle that produced less fat while still gaining quickly on corn. You take that kind of steer and put it on grass, you have a disaster in the making. Read some Alan Nation and a little of Joel Salatin.

Also, the marketing aspect of grain-fed cattle runs against popular acceptance of grass-fed beef. American consumers now demand white fat as superior, when it actually is an unnatural result of high-grain diets that Nature never intended for cattle. Grass-fed beef have yellowish fat, which is seen as less desireable now (but was perfectly acceptable 40-50 years ago).

The cooking habits of Americans also run counter to grassfed. In the past, roasts and other larger cuts were cooked by homemakers in moist heat. Now, most raw meat purchased is quick-cooked as steaks or burgers. There are even new kinds of steaks now that never existed back then, as a bow to the marketing of quick-seared meat. Of course, quick searing is the easiest way to arrive at toughness unless the meat is well-marbled (a trait that is hard to find in the crosses listed above if they are grassfed).

Last, grassfed beef demands much more attention to pasture than grain-finished cattle do. What the steer eats affects flavor and tenderness much more in grassfed beef, where months of grain feeding can't cover up a multitude of early grazing sins.

Is there such a thing as good, tender grassfed beef? Yes. But one has to look hard to find it.

[sugarbush]

I don't have an issue with the grass fed beef I buy being flavorless or tough.... I buy year old charolias in the 600 lb range live weight.....puts about 400 lbs of meat in the freezer at about 2.50 per lb. I grew up on beef from old dairy cows, this stuff is much better.

[Maura]

I prefer the beef we get from our neighbor to anything in a grocery store or restaurant. He keeps his cows on grass/hay, but supplements the calves with corn to get them bigger. Many people do not like pastured beef because what they ate as a kid was an old milk cow, pastured or corn, that cow was going to be tough.

You have to know how to cook it, as well, as stated above, you cook with moist heat.

[unioncreek]

I think if you went back and produced beef with the genetics they had back in the 50's and 60's it would be a different story. Look at the frame size of most cattle today it's a frame score of 6 or 7. If you produce an animal in the 4 or 5 frame size your going to get an animal the matures faster and will be more tender. It all goes back to the genetics of beef your raising. I neighbor sells grassfed Highlanders and butchers at 3 years old and has customers waiting in line. I think he would be more efficient if he butchered at 2 years, but if he's making it on what he does, I'm happy for him.

Bobg