Grass Fed and Grass Finished Beef

grass-fed-beef

At the conception of our farm we decided to grow our own herd of cows rather than start with cows that may have been fed grain. Starting from scratch is a three year process, but we are happy to say that we now have beef available to our customers that is the highest possible quality.

 Our cows are raised on pasture and moved to a fresh paddock of grass every day. Herbivores like to travel together and move to fresh pasture daily. They only eat grass– no grain. The quality and nutrition of such beef is far superior to that of grain-fed beef. Having cows that forage solely on pasture also heals the land by reducing weeds, stimulating growth, and reducing pathogens.  

Some farms may claim to have grass-fed beef, but just before the cows are harvested they are fed grain to fatten them up. This can cause an increase in quantity, but at the expense of quality (not to mention that it can be misleading).  This is why we state that our cows are grass-fed and grass-finished.

Below are some of the health benefits of grass-fed & finished beef:

Grass-finished beef provides 4 percent of the Daily Value for Vitamin E compared to 1.5 percent for grain-fed beef. Vitamin E-rich foods such as almonds provide 24 percent of the Daily Value for Vitamin E. All grass-fed beef is nutrient-rich, with eight times more vitamin B12, six times more zinc, and three times more iron than skinless chicken breast. One 3.5-ounce serving of grass-finished beef offers 15 milligrams more omega-3 than other kinds of beef. However, in general, beef is not considered a primary source of omega-3 fatty acids. Grass-finished beef can contain more conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) than other kinds of beef. Health professionals believe CLA, a polyunsaturated fatty acid, has cancer fighting properties. However, research has not determined whether this difference results in a more significant health benefit.