Environmental Benefits of Grass-fed Beef
- Minimal use of fossil fuels — cattle harvest their own feed and spread their own manure!
- Reduced disturbance from machinery benefits wildlife, especially ground-nesting birds
- Cleaner water — Grasslands have less run-off and soil erosion than cropland
- Rotationally-grazed pastures have more earthworms and diverse soil micro-organisms
Grass-fed Beef Benefits Livestock
- Cattle are born and raised on pasture — not feedlots and cement floored mega-barns, so they have less hoof and leg injuries, and rarely suffer the breathing problems and skin ailments that often afflict cattle kept indoors.
- Less flies and parasites because the herd is constantly moved to fresh grass and kept ahead of the flies and manure. Less time standing and sleeping in muddy barnyards!
- Cattle are free to choose from wide variety of natural forages and can self-medicate from herbal remedies growing in the pastures.
- Less stress — when cattle have room to roam and can enjoy the normal social behaviors inherent in herd animals, they are healthier and live longer.
- Calves are raised by their mothers (and aunts!), not fed milk replacer from bottles or buckets. This allows them to learn normal social behaviors of the herd.
Did you know calves must learn from their mother’s and other herd-mates what (and what not) to eat?