Feel good when you buy grass fed beef!Click Here to Buy Grass Fed Beef When you buy grass fed beef, be sure to follow the guidelines listed below, and you can feel good about your purchase. Click here to visit our Mail Order Beef web page To get the best in grass fed beef, make sure that it adheres to the following specifications: (You can click here for discussion on the definitions of grass fed and grass finished beef. ) 1. 100% Grass FINISHED: This is the most important! While most cattle are grass fed at some point in their lives, it is the finishing, or the fattening during the last 60 - 140 days before processing that matters. Most American beef is fed grain during this finishing time, which changes the body chemistry and tissues of the animal, reducing the levels of important nutrients like Omega 3, CLA, vitamin E, beta carotene, and others. Some beef is advertised as grass fed, but actually finished on grain. It is the finishing that determines the level of good nutrients. 2. Pastured / unconfined: The best grass fed beef is from livestock that have lived their lives on pasture, without being finished in a confined environment. Some producers have fed hay to finishing steers or heifers, penned up in confinement, and called it grass fed. Sign up at left to receive The High Steaks News for ranch updates, specials on beef, recipes, and much more. 3. Free of added hormones: Make sure that the beef you buy is free of added hormones. Often the beef that is raised in feed lots receives growth hormones from an hormonal implant device placed in their ear. Be sure that when you buy grass fed beef it is from pastured cattle, free of any added hormones. 4. Free of antibiotics: Antibiotics are really two separate issues: low level feed antibiotics and administered antibiotics. Often feedlot animals are fed a daily dose of low level antibiotics to ward off infectious diseases that arise in that level of confinement. Many scientists postulate that such practices create “super-bug” strains of pathogens which are resistant to our modern antibiotics. The other issue is if an animal was treated with antibiotics, at some point in its life; any remaining residue from the drugs is usually gone within a few weeks or months time. Some of our customers only care that their beef was not fed low level antibiotics; others want to know that the beef they eat was not administered antibiotics. 5. Ultrasound Scanned: You have a better chance of obtaining a product that is tender and well marbled if you buy grass fed beef from a producer who ultra-sound scans his or her cattle. It’s the same technology used in ultra-sound scans of pregnant women, to get a view of what is inside. Scanning of cattle can reveal things like the percentage of intra-muscular fat, or better know as “marbling”, tenderness, the size of the rib eye, the back fat thickness, and the presence of any undue stress on the animal. Producers who ultrasound scan their cattle then keep the best, most marbled and tender for their retail sales. 6. Natural & Organic are not necessarily grass fed: The health benefits that have been heralded in the mainstream media lately are only in grass fed and finished beef. Not all natural and organically certified beef is grass fed and finished, in fact most is not. It simply means that the producer has followed certain protocols which are verified by an outside authority, and their cattle are fed grain that is ertified organic. In most cases natural and organically certified beef has been raised in confinement, fed natural or organically certified grain. Follow these tips to help you decide where you buy grass fed beef from so you can “Savor the flavor, and reap the rewards”! Other certifications The items listed above are what we consider to be the most important. If you’re wondering about organic, know that much of the beef that is certified organic is not grass fed or finished, though some is. Make sure you know that the beef you’re buying is grass fed and finished. We feel that eating grass fed is more important to health than organic certification, as long as the grass fed animals are free of added hormones and antibiotics. Regional Authority Certification Some regions have established a regional certifying authority to verify the geographic locality of product origin. Check with your state department of agriculture, along with the information or tourism boards, chambers of commerce, and economic development authorities about regional certification programs. Ultrasound Scanning for Carcass Quality At McNeil Ranch and Diamond F Brand 100% Grass Fed and Finished Beef, we ultrasound test our cattle as live animals, and determine their carcass qualities before they are ever taken to the processor. The ultrasound scan uses the same technology that is implemented with pregnant women, to get an ultrasonic view of their fetus. The ultrasound scan of cattle tests certain muscles for; marbling, (%Intra-muscular fat), tenderness, thickness of back fat, and rib eye area. That way, we are able to save only the very best, (most marbled and tender, creating the best steaks and roasts) for our Diamond F program and our customers. So If you can, buy grass fed beef from a producer who ultrasound tests their cattle , as they can then usually guarantee tenderness and marbling. USDA Inspected In most states, in order to buy grass fed beef in individul cuts, the beef product must be inspected by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), though it is not required in all states. Processing For information on processing, click the following link to be directed to the processing page of our Diamond F Brand 100% Grass Fed and Finished Beef. website
Please contact us if you would like to buy grass fed beef, or receive further information and updates.
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