February 2019: What cattle eat and how it affects the beef we consume?

Now there is a lot of misconception about what is Natural, Organic, and Grain fed. See the info graphic below. I think this does a super job of depicting the requirements set forth for producers. But it also sheds some light to consumers.

Ask yourself, do you really understand the difference of what you prefer? Or what the labels mean?

Fun fact, grass fed cattle take 266 days longer to get to a finished harvesting weight.

That means cattle are likely older than the preferred slaughter age of 18-21 months of age. Now as a cattle rancher, I support both methods of finishing cattle. We prefer to naturally grain finish ours. But whatever it is YOU prefer, I encourage you to learn more about it. Knowledge is power!

The other thing I find fascinating is the reason why ranchers supplement cattle diets with grain. Cattle spend the majority of their lives grazing on grasses and a forage based diet. But since the majority of cattle production takes place in the Northern Hemisphere, winter time can prove to be cold, snowy, and grasses don’t grow. In order to provide adequate feed, cattle may be fed hay, silage,and even grain to meet their nutrient requirements and feed intake of 2-3% of body weight consumed in feed. The Knowledge Center at the Farm Credit website says it best and does a great job explaining the cattle grain fed misconception. Most cattle from birth until around 12-15 mos. of age spend all their time on grass or forage diet. Grain fed cattle are then transitioned to a feed lot where they will spend 90-120 days on grain. Diets are not completely corn based. In fact cattle nutritionists do a great job balancing a ration so the diet is made up of both hay and grain. Did you know, if a cow consumes too much corn or grain they can suffer a condition called acidosis, where their rumen ( part of their 4 chambered stomach) experiences a rapid fall in acidity and causes the cows to come off feed and have a depressed appetite. Neither of these things do cattle producers want. So nutritionist pay careful attention to make sure this does not happen.

Now I am not here to make the decision for you if you should eat grain fed or grass fed. The beauty of choice, is you get to CHOOSE. But I do hope to have shed some light on misconceptions. Help you to understand what the labels mean on your beef you buy. And present you with credible sources and research based facts. Sometimes the info we read on the internet can be overwhelming, so if you ever have any questions please don’t hesitate to reach out!