Locally grown, 100% grass fed beef, from a rancher you can come visit.
Have you been wondering about the “grass fed” beef you may be seeing lately in the grocery stores at hard to believe prices? Well, it’s often really difficult to know where this beef is coming from, or how exactly it has been raised. There are really no solid labeling rules for grass fed beef in the store, so it’s easy to be fooled. Was this animal fed grass or pasture for a time, and then “finished” on grain? Did it even come from outside the United States, but you have no idea one way or the other? The nutritional differences, the flavor, and the authenticity of this “mystery beef” can be all over the map. It has even been reported in several news articles that many companies have been labeling beef “grass fed” in the grocery store, that was only fed grass some of the time, or had some grass pellets mixed in with their grain in the feedlot.
As a rancher, I know that pretty much all beef animals are fed grass or graze on some pasture at some point in their life. All around the country, no matter where you go, beef calves are typically born out in the pasture, most likely in the Spring time, and are raised, eating pasture, and nursing milk off their mothers for the first 6 months or so. It is at that point that almost 95% of beef calves in the USA are weaned off their mothers, and are hauled into confined feedlots where they are fattened up very rapidly on grain, and other feed by-products.
This is an accelerated process that almost always involves the use of growth hormones, and a lack of the normal movement they would get if they were out grazing on pasture. As a result, grain fed feedlot cattle are typically butchered at an age of less than 18 months, while 100% grass fed cattle, that graze on pasture their whole lives, are typically butchered closer to 24 months of age. This is because, real grass fed beef, that are not fed growth hormones or grain, will take longer to grow and fatten up naturally, and will still be at the peak of tenderness at 24 months of age.
This is also why there is a very real difference in the cost of real grass fed beef. Grass fed beef costs more money because of the extra time, and the extra grass land required to graze the cattle. The extra time is totally worth it both for the health benefits for you and I (https://basketflatranch.com/4-good-reasons-go-grass-fed | http://www.eatwild.com/healthbenefits.htm) , and the quality and flavor of the beef.
Currently, the only way you can be completely sure your grass fed beef is the real thing, is to buy directly from your local rancher. The amazing thing to me is that we are pricing our beef very close to the grocery store price of regular grain fed beef, and 30-40% less than real grass fed beef you will find in the grocery store. While it may seem expensive in total, consider that about half of the beef you get from one of our beef shares will be some type of cut of beef, half will be ground beef, and then consider what the price of different beef cuts are in the store. If you do the math, we are super competitive, so there is no reason to think it is too expensive to buy real grass fed beef, or just to give up on the real thing and buy one “cheap” pack of grain fed beef at a time from the store. And often, it only seems “cheaper” because you are buying such a small quantity at a time. When you buy from a local, real, grass fed beef ranch, you are making a positive impact both on the beef market, and your families’ health. You are getting the real thing.
Your local Grass Fed Beef Rancher,
Jon Schoenborn
Basket Flat Ranch
