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Sally McKain's guest column (News-Review May 26) regarding grass-fed beef and the availability of locally produced beef needs some clarification.
“Grass-fed” beef is not the same as “organic” beef, as McKain implies. To be organic, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, beef must be fed only organically grown feed, which may include grain (that is, the feed must have been produced with no herbicides, pesticides or chemical fertilizers) and the cattle must get no hormones or antibiotics. No pesticides can be used to suppress flies or other insects, either on the animals or in fields or buildings containing the animals. Notice that organic beef can be fed grain, but only organic grain. Thus, true organic beef is prohibitively expensive and rare.
Grass-fed means only that the cattle are fed nothing but grass and hay. McKain praises the wonderful 4-H steers, but they are generally not exclusively grass-fed. They are almost always fed grain as well as pasture grass or hay. The grain is what finishes the animal, giving it the marbling that makes it tender and juicy.
Commercial feedlot cattle are not, as McKain claims, “culled” from other herds, but are raised for the feedlot, and until they go to the feedlot their diet is generally grass and hay. Feedlots include antibiotics in the feed to reduce the risk of disease, and growth hormones to stimulate rapid growth. And yes, these additives are a disadvantage to eating feedlot beef.
No one, not even large-scale commercial beef producers, is urging the American public to eat large amounts of beef. A daily 16-ounce steak, even organic or grass-fed, would cause serious health problems. Too much of any one kind of food in the diet is not good, but red meat plays an important role in a balanced diet.
Contrary to McKain's implication, there are other beef choices besides just grass-fed and commercial feedlot beef. “Natural” beef refers to cattle raised with no antibiotics or hormones, but on a combination of pasture grass, hay and grain. Our ranch produces natural beef.
Yes, cattle are ruminants, but that does not imply that their natural or ideal food is nothing but grass. The term “ruminant” means simply that an animal has a second stomach, the rumen, to enable it to digest a wide range of food. Ruminants can and do eat any kind of vegetable matter that is available to them. We have to protect our grain bins from deer (also ruminants), who would otherwise gorge themselves on it. Cattle do not need to be forced to eat grain. Our cattle, which get small amounts of grain in addition to hay and pasture grass, are always waiting for their grain at the feed bunk, even though they are in a pasture with grass available. Ruminants, like all mammals, also need small amounts of minerals, such as salt and selenium, and any professional beef producer will provide them, separately from the regular feed, on demand. It is against the law in the United States to feed cattle any kind of feed from animal carcasses.
McKain and others should know that there are Douglas County ranches raising and selling grass-fed beef. The Douglas County Livestock Association and the Oregon State University Extension Service can provide information about a local co-op that sells its beef at Kruse Farms Market in Garden Valley. There are also independent beef producers like ourselves, some producing grass-fed beef, others (like our ranch) producing natural beef, whom one can locate through the association or through extension. Many beef consumers in the county arrange directly with individual ranchers to buy a whole or half steer carcass, have it aged, cut and wrapped to their specifications, and store it in their home freezer. The producer arranges for the slaughter, and the consumer simply picks up the wrapped and frozen meat from the cutter. A whole steer should last a family of four for a year.
Personally, I find beef fed only on grass to be lacking in “beef” flavor — it tends to taste gamey or grassy. Independent blind taste tests, pitting grain-fed meat against grass-fed meat, invariably show that grain-fed beef is superior in taste. So our steers get enough grain daily to give their meat that marbling which meat lovers like. Like most small-scale producers, we do not use antibiotics or hormones because there is no need.
Janet Packham is co-owner of Packham Ranch in Dixonville, where she has been raising registered Black Angus cattle for more than 20 years. She is a member of the American Angus Association and former vice president of the Douglas County Livestock Association. She can be reached at packham@teleport.com.
“Grass-fed” beef is not the same as “organic” beef, as McKain implies. To be organic, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, beef must be fed only organically grown feed, which may include grain (that is, the feed must have been produced with no herbicides, pesticides or chemical fertilizers) and the cattle must get no hormones or antibiotics. No pesticides can be used to suppress flies or other insects, either on the animals or in fields or buildings containing the animals. Notice that organic beef can be fed grain, but only organic grain. Thus, true organic beef is prohibitively expensive and rare.
Grass-fed means only that the cattle are fed nothing but grass and hay. McKain praises the wonderful 4-H steers, but they are generally not exclusively grass-fed. They are almost always fed grain as well as pasture grass or hay. The grain is what finishes the animal, giving it the marbling that makes it tender and juicy.
Commercial feedlot cattle are not, as McKain claims, “culled” from other herds, but are raised for the feedlot, and until they go to the feedlot their diet is generally grass and hay. Feedlots include antibiotics in the feed to reduce the risk of disease, and growth hormones to stimulate rapid growth. And yes, these additives are a disadvantage to eating feedlot beef.
No one, not even large-scale commercial beef producers, is urging the American public to eat large amounts of beef. A daily 16-ounce steak, even organic or grass-fed, would cause serious health problems. Too much of any one kind of food in the diet is not good, but red meat plays an important role in a balanced diet.
Contrary to McKain's implication, there are other beef choices besides just grass-fed and commercial feedlot beef. “Natural” beef refers to cattle raised with no antibiotics or hormones, but on a combination of pasture grass, hay and grain. Our ranch produces natural beef.
Yes, cattle are ruminants, but that does not imply that their natural or ideal food is nothing but grass. The term “ruminant” means simply that an animal has a second stomach, the rumen, to enable it to digest a wide range of food. Ruminants can and do eat any kind of vegetable matter that is available to them. We have to protect our grain bins from deer (also ruminants), who would otherwise gorge themselves on it. Cattle do not need to be forced to eat grain. Our cattle, which get small amounts of grain in addition to hay and pasture grass, are always waiting for their grain at the feed bunk, even though they are in a pasture with grass available. Ruminants, like all mammals, also need small amounts of minerals, such as salt and selenium, and any professional beef producer will provide them, separately from the regular feed, on demand. It is against the law in the United States to feed cattle any kind of feed from animal carcasses.
McKain and others should know that there are Douglas County ranches raising and selling grass-fed beef. The Douglas County Livestock Association and the Oregon State University Extension Service can provide information about a local co-op that sells its beef at Kruse Farms Market in Garden Valley. There are also independent beef producers like ourselves, some producing grass-fed beef, others (like our ranch) producing natural beef, whom one can locate through the association or through extension. Many beef consumers in the county arrange directly with individual ranchers to buy a whole or half steer carcass, have it aged, cut and wrapped to their specifications, and store it in their home freezer. The producer arranges for the slaughter, and the consumer simply picks up the wrapped and frozen meat from the cutter. A whole steer should last a family of four for a year.
Personally, I find beef fed only on grass to be lacking in “beef” flavor — it tends to taste gamey or grassy. Independent blind taste tests, pitting grain-fed meat against grass-fed meat, invariably show that grain-fed beef is superior in taste. So our steers get enough grain daily to give their meat that marbling which meat lovers like. Like most small-scale producers, we do not use antibiotics or hormones because there is no need.
Janet Packham is co-owner of Packham Ranch in Dixonville, where she has been raising registered Black Angus cattle for more than 20 years. She is a member of the American Angus Association and former vice president of the Douglas County Livestock Association. She can be reached at packham@teleport.com.
