Grass Fed Beef

[Keenstreet Stud]

Here's an interesting article posted over on the Dexter UK forum, a great study done in the UK about Grass Fed slow grown beef:
http://www.fwi.co.uk/Articles/2010/07/0 ... lthier.htm

Vicki

[Broomcroft]

It's great to see articles like that but I don't understand it. It seems to be saying that beef when grass-fed, and on unimproved pastures, and from native breeds is better for you. But which is it? The grass, the unimproved pastures, or the breeds of cattle? If they have carried out scientific research then they need to actually discover which, or which combination of factors is responsible for the improvements. I have seen masses of test results for grass-fed beef from all over the world, showing how good it is, but most if not all from improved pastures. Obviously, the breed of cattle needs to be one that will fatten on grass. It's the unimproved bit I do not understand and would completely disagree with.

I am assuming unimproved means just leaving the fields to take on whatever seeds pass their way! that's a bit ridiculous, surely they can't mean that?

Extensive research carried out by the American Grass-Fed Association, I think Sydney University (not sure) and others has shown huge health benefits, but with the main factor being that what is grazed is green, i.e. even many arable grain crops, but grazed before going to head has the same or similar benefits to grass. But they've spent 5 years doing the research so you hope they realised this!

[Keenstreet Stud]

Hi Clive,

Not sure... but I know someone who has done some research into pasture in recent times and she's leaning towards all native grasses for her pasture. I've seen people cut off paddocks to seed (rhodes grass) possibly it's something that works on large acres??

Will need to have a bit more of a think and read...

Always love your input with the grass feeding, and of course I had good results healthwise from eating only grass fed beef.

Vicki

[Broomcroft]

Hi Vicki, me too, I have my blood tested annually in great detail and it's doing great relative to my age, and I eat grass-fed beef and grass-fed lamb produced on highly improved pastures. We do eat fish but not that often.

All the research points towards the health benefits coming from green leaves, living or only just cut. It doesn't even have to be grass. Clover is better than grass, obviously mixed with grass, grasses vary between varieties considerably and things like brassicas are good as well. The American GrassFed Association because of their research, allow members to graze cereal crops but BEFORE they head, and that has been proven to provide good results in terms of the health benefits within the meat. Also there is now research to tell us that the health benefits and the additional flavour are one in the same thing. i.e. what you are tasting actually IS the omega-3 and other things. Also, what has been uncovered is that hay has effectively zero omega-3's because they are delicate and cannot withstand the dehydration process. The ratio between omega-3's and omega-6's of 3:1 is important I read, but in hay the ratio is usually 0:1, which is worse than grain-fed! We're going to feed linseed (flaxseed?) this winter as a trial to see what benefit it has on the animals (hope for shinier coats and better condition of some that go thin over the winter no matter what I feed them) and also the beef taste hopefully. I wish we could afford to do loads of testing.

The only logic I can see behind native grasses being good, is that the animal will take ages to finish because of the poor feed value, and that gives time for the fats to develop, and maybe you get a better test result from an older animal, you get more flavour so that does make sense. When they test the meat, it's the fats that contains all the goodies. I was going to test some years ago and the test house told me to send in fatty mince to get the best results. I could have sent less fatty mince and would have gotten poorer results off the same animal!

I'm going to try and get the actual research if it's available. There must be something to it unless it's just the article mixing the three things up.