Got Beef? Grass Fed vs. Grain Fed

Before World War II, virtually all cattle grazed on grass. Postwar agribusiness, aided by federal subsidies, produced huge surpluses of corn, which found its way into animal feed and led to today’s feed lot cattle production. Grass fed cattle are free-range, pastured animals that graze on grass for most of the year, except during the cold winter months, when they are fed hay.

Grass-fed Angus cattle.

While some grass-fed cattle are fed grain during the winter months (better animals are corn-fed, lesser animals eat cheaper feed mixes), the American Grassfed Association (AGA) is working to standardize the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) guidelines for labeling meat. Their definition of grass-fed is “those food products from animals that have eaten nothing but their mother’s milk and fresh grass or grass-type hay from birth to harvest—all all their lives.” The issue is currently further complicated in that some breeders supplement grain with grass or hay year-round, and some meat is labeled “pasture raised,” that comes from animals that are not strictly grass-fed. Yet other animals are raised on grass yet finished with grain (i.e., fed a grain diet in the months prior to harvesting). So, standards are needed so consumers know what they are buying. The type of feed has an impact on the flavor of the meat: Grass-fed beef looks, smells and tastes slightly different from grain-fed beef, which has a nuttier taste from the animal’s corn diet. Grass-fed beef is healthier: It has about half the saturated fat of grain-fed beef and therefore is lower in calories and cholesterol. It also is higher in vitamin A, conjugated linoleic acid (CLA, a potent anti-carcinogen) and omega-3 fatty acids (grain-fed beef has none). On the down side, grass-fed beef is more expensive; the animals take longer to come to maturity. Because it is leaner, grass-fed beef needs to be cooked more carefully. Less fat also means less marbling, so it is downgraded by USDA beef grading standards, which work in favor of marbling.