I'm fairly certain a majority of the beef in the US is fed corn, soy, ect their entire lives in feed lots.
Discussion
I don't think so man.
It just doesn't make economical sense.
Cow-Calf operations are mainly grass fed. Then they get sold & sent to a CAFO for finishing (fattening).
Yeah I looked it up and you're right. All cows start out on grass, then some move to feed lots.
The beef market here has two clear segments, one which is advertised as grass fed and one which is not.
Depending on where I buy the beef I can tell a huge difference in the quality. For example if I go to a regular chain grocery store, the grass fed beef is only slightly better than the USDA, but if I get it from a local ranch or farm store the quality is head and shoulders above.
I may need to go pull up some Texas Slim podcasts to understand the difference.
Australian beef is pretty different to US beef. Most of the stuff I buy is grass finished. The gain finished stuff tends to fetch a much price & is much better quality (more tender & more marbling although it can have a blend flavour). It's also all grown & finished here due to our crazy strict quarantine laws.
Within the grass finished category there is huge variation in the quality. The cheaper beef tends to be tough with lots of sinew & little marbling. These don't tend to end up in the chain supermarkets but end up in the discount butchers & small independent grocers.
Things that can affect the quality of the meat:
- age (older is generally tougher but also more flavourful)
- breed (heavily affects feed conversion, meat quality & marbling)
- pasture & pasture management (The varieties of grass & how the pasture is managed has a massive impact on feed quality. Better quality feed produces more & better quality beef)
- transport, slaughter & storage (Meat processing plays a big role. Stressed, scared cows don't make for great meat. I've heard that cooling the carcass too quickly can also degrade the meat. A carcass should generally also be hung for 2 weeks before being processed.)
Personally I don't really care if the animal isn't fully finished on grass.
What concerns me more is the taste & whether it was raised & killed respectfully/humanely. The only way I can achieve both is to get closer to the farmer. I will only be fully happy if I know the farmer well or I am the farmer.
Bitcoiner dreams for the future...
Nice man. Yeah I'm imagining a pasture with classical music playing. All the cows are getting massages and when it's time to harvest they are killed before they even know it's coming.
That's basically what hunting was for thousands of years minus the massages and classical music. Hearing the birds is about as good though.
Haha not sure about the massages & classical music but definitely lush pasture supporting all kinds of life.
Then eventually 1 bad day where they are respectfully dispatched & harvested for their life giving flesh & fat.
No trucks, cattle prods & sale yards. Meat so good, people drive out to the citadel to collect it.
💚🥩