Is It Better to Have Grass Finished or Grain Finished Beef
Grass Finished Ways Really, Truly Grass Fed
Grass finished beef is beef from cows that have only e'er eaten grass. The finishing period of a cow's life is the final stage, at which point it may still be growing its frame a bit simply is mostly gaining muscle and fat. For conventionally raised beef cows, this is the period in which they consume the virtually grain, because calorie-dense grain is expert at putting on fat. So the term grass finished beef reaffirms that the cow only ate grass, even during the critical finishing period.
How is it Different from Grass Fed?
In a perfect globe, grass fed would always mean grass finished. And it unremarkably does, particularly when used by small farmers committed to the best agriculture. Merely some brands, eager to catch the grass fed buzz, market place their beefiness as grass fed fifty-fifty though they besides feed grain. Their unscrupulous logic is that considering cows universally eat lots of grass in their early life, they can all be called grass fed, even if they likewise consume grain.
So farmers like me are stuck with clarifying terms similar 'grass finished.' I never feed my cows grain, and I desire people to know it. I would like to but exist able to say grass fed and take that be clear, but equally long as big ag is trying to steal the language I and farmers like me utilize to differentiate ourselves, I demand to employ words that don't leave any wiggle room.
The Key to Ameliorate Beef
The reason all beefiness isn't grass finished is that information technology's harder. Almost any moo-cow will quickly fatten if fed enough grain. But to appropriately finish on grass, the pasture or hay must be of the highest quality, and the moo-cow must exist given time. Producing grass finished beef takes a level of care and considerateness that isn't needed in a feedlot environs.
In practice this requires good grazing. On my farm cows motion to fresh grass every day of the growing season and deep into the autumn. They consume a diverse diet of grasses and clovers, breath make clean air, and drink make clean h2o. Cows finishing in colder weather condition require the absolute highest quality hay to give them plenty energy.
But it'south worth it. Beef from cows that take lived their whole lives outside, eating nothing but grass, is admittedly delicious, with a depth and complexity of season that grain fed beef can't match. Cows evolved eating grass, and they're particularly good at information technology. It is also healthier for the land, the farmers, and the people who consume it.
The Keys to Grass Finished Beefiness
- Cows eat only grass their entire lives.
- Dissimilar conventional beefiness, in which cows are fed grain during the finishing menses, grass finished beef comes from cows fattened on grass lonely.
- Some unscrupulous brands marketplace beef every bit grass fed fifty-fifty though the cows it comes from have also eaten grain. Grass finished is a further guard against such obfuscation.
- Raising loftier quality beef from cows that swallow only grass takes particular skill, considering grass and hay are not as naturally calorie dense as grain.
- Grass finished beef has a richer flavor and superior food profile when compared to conventional beef.
Where to Find Grass Finished Beef
Hopefully this mail service has antiseptic what grass finished beef is and why y'all should consider seeking information technology out. If you're interested, I've created a whole page dedicated to helping you lot find a local farm that sells grass fed beef. It has both national and regional directories of farms, questions you should consider asking and what to watch out for.
If you've liked this post you might also want to cheque out this article on the differences between pastured and grass fed, or an explanation of why yous shouldn't go looking for grass fed chicken.
Please exit a comment beneath or shoot me an email if you lot take any farther questions.
Source: https://cairncrestfarm.com/blog/what-is-grass-finished-beef/
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