06/06/2025
Why grass finished beef is good for you...read on!
Why do we grass finish our steer?
Not everyone likes grass finished beef. Not everyone likes grain finished beef. Not everyone likes elk or deer meat.
There are some real advantages of grass finished beef. The omega3 to omega6 fatty acid ratio of grass finished beef on diverse pasture is even better than wild caught salmon. Granted there is less per ounce, but I eat 4 ounces of salmon, and I eat 8 oz of hamburger and 12 oz of steak. So I think I make up for it.
The other big advantage is the phytonutrients that are in the beef from diverse pasture. The polyphenols are antiinflamatory, anticarcinogen, and they have better mitochondrial support. I recommend watching Dr. Stephen Von Vleit on YouTube to find out more details about this information.
I am sure I will get comments about my pasture being too mature. I want the seeds heads and flowers on the plants. This maturity brings higher BRIX levels, meaning better plant sugars. This is what puts fat on the animal. The other advantage of mature pasture is that it is higher in lignified material. This slows down the grass as it goes through the digestive system. The cows pats look like thick oatmeal showing a good balance in their diet. We call it diverse pasture because it has grasses, legumes, and forbes (weeds). My cows eat all of these things. I strongly suggest reading Dr. Fred Provenza's book Nourishment to learn about our animals' ability to select the ideal diet for themselves.
Dr. Allen Williams talks about reading from the Lewis and Clark journals about how eating bison in prime physical health needed no accompanying food for satiation. That's what we are trying to do with our beef. For those people that are not accustomed to eating bison or elk. I describe our beef as having a stronger beef flavor. It isn't really gamey like venison. The biggest problem I have found is that I can no longer cook store beef in the house. All I smell is feed lot and that is not an aroma that I want indoors. I have some people say that the fat is yellow and only white fat is appealing. It is yellow because of the caratinoids in the grass making it much higher in fat soluble vitamins. Once again check out Dr Stephen Von Vleit.
The next thing that is a plus for us is that I don't have to buy grain to finish them. The Good Lord puts seeds heads and flowers out to fatten animals every spring. We butcher after God's bounty of grass on the spring leaving the remaining grass for our production herd. This cuts down on the number of mouths to feed in the summer slump.
No matter what breed you choose to raise make sure to select for genetics that perform well on grass. There are breeders that select for this. We raise highlands and galloway crosses for this very reason. There is a lot of Wagyu grass finished beef imported into this country from New Zealand. There are a lot of people willing to pay top dollar for good grass finished beef. Store beef is bland and smells funny to people that are used to grass finished beef on diverse pastures.
As always, I am not telling anyone how to run their operations. I am only telling you what we do on our place and why we do it that way. Please feel free to comment your own experiences and ask questions. Have a great day.
