Grain Fed Rant

[cassie]

Since pasture is cheaper than grain why does pasture raised beef always cost more? Most likely because it is a marketing ploy for a small farmer to get s few more dollars since they cannot compete with the big farms Do a blind taste test on both and see where the consumer stands. We raise our own animals in a feed lot environment and I assure you it is very safe and healthy. It only makes sense to give your animals the best feed and we do it for many reasons but to be cheap is not one of them I can buy it much cheaper but have no idea what it has eaten and that does effect taste

One reason grass/pasture fed beef would cost more is that it takes a lot longer to properly finish a beef on grass than it does on grain. A lot longer. Plus, as you said, these beef are raaised in smaller numbers and the growers sometimes exploit a niche market where they can ask for and get higher prices.

 

[chickened]

As a consumer it is our responsibility to do the research if we are so inclined. Yes they use those words to attract people. So when you say "home raised" chicken but you keep it in a coop and feed it rations for 8 weeks until it is killed it is possibly more humane but will taste the same as one that was cage raised. Same with farm fresh eggs. If they aren't free ranging or on grass they are just raised close to home. We get "home grown" beef but it is finished in a feedlot just the same. It is simply a smaller family owned lot they are then killed with a bolt just like in a slaughter plant but at the local butcher. You have to know what things mean and do your reasearch if you care. Since it sounds like you do, educate your children and they will pass it on. Knowledge is Power!!

I agree and will add that you/we as a consumer have relied and trusted our government to tell us the truth about our food supply and yet people still trust them. Ultimately if your source for food is a major concern then you owe it to yourself to either raise it buy it from a source you trust. i have dealt with government types alot in my business and they are like CL sellers some you can trust and most are liars who cherish thier job to the point that they will do what they are told or feel they need to do to maintain that job... SERVANT is no longer thier attitude anymore unfortunately...

 

[homesteadlizzy]

I think that the public is misinformed about a lot of things, including beef. Most (I don't want to quantify) but most people think that cows are supposed to eat grain - corn, etc. but in reality they are supposed to be grass fed. At some point feeding corn became cheaper to feed than finding pasture and the agrifarms just started grain feeding. Cows can live on grass (did anyone ever take a shot of wheat grass???? Boy there is energy in that!!!). The same is true for poultry in a way.... a lot of big growers put them in huge chicken houses and keep them in the dark and just throw them feed. they take dead and sick chickens, whatever there is, when it is time to pick them up for slaughter. I am not saying every poultry grower does that, but I know some who did it for a living in AL and that was the protocol, and when you voiced concern over the health of the birds you lost your contract. That is the sad state of agribusiness in the USof A... Money IS the bottom line.

 

[OldGuy43]

"Why, they're just in business to make money!"

I'm sorry. I just have to laugh when I hear this. What a shock! Imagine that. Someone went into business to show a profit. If you go into business with any other goal you will probably succeed at a trip to bankruptcy court. That's why we all go to work, to make money. Most of us give our employer a days work for a days pay. Some find a way to scam their employer out of money without giving fair value. The same is true of the other side of the coin. Some businesses give good value, some are just a scam. Size of the business or how profitable they are is not a good guideline as to which is which.

Walks away dragging soap box behind him laughing and shaking his head.

 

[cassie]

I think that the public is misinformed about a lot of things, including beef. Most (I don't want to quantify) but most people think that cows are supposed to eat grain - corn, etc. but in reality they are supposed to be grass fed. At some point feeding corn became cheaper to feed than finding pasture and the agrifarms just started grain feeding. Cows can live on grass (did anyone ever take a shot of wheat grass???? Boy there is energy in that!!!). The same is true for poultry in a way.... a lot of big growers put them in huge chicken houses and keep them in the dark and just throw them feed. they take dead and sick chickens, whatever there is, when it is time to pick them up for slaughter. I am not saying every poultry grower does that, but I know some who did it for a living in AL and that was the protocol, and when you voiced concern over the health of the birds you lost your contract. That is the sad state of agribusiness in the USof A... Money IS the bottom line.

Of course money is the bottom line. Did you think livestock and poultry producers raise livestock and poultry because they don't have anything else to do? As for cows "not being meant to be fed grain", if you want optimum performance out of livestock and poultry you need to feed them grain. Modern beef cattle are not Longhorns, Cornish X meat chickens are not the same chickens your great grandmother had scratching around in the barnyard. And they cannot be fed as if they are.

 

[oldrooster]

I dont care if the beef is grain-fed or grass-fed but like the OP i get tired of companies advertising in huge lettering something that is not untrue but will trick folks into thinking they are getting something better for themselves. I saw some microwave popcorn and on the bag it says "wholegrain" now i dont know about anyone else but just how do you get non-whole grain pop-corn? Popcorn is corn that grows on a cob just like regular corn only it is much smaller and more rounded but it is all wholegrain. This was put on the box just so that folks not paying attention would buy it thinking they were getting something more healthy! Makes me angry!

I see every summer water melons labeled from the grower that they where cholesterol free..... I didn't realize until then they must hve been from an animal or processed with animal or oils added....
yes I am being sarcastic about the stickers..

 

[jnntefend]

I see every summer water melons labeled from the grower that they where cholesterol free..... I didn't realize until then they must hve been from an animal or processed with animal or oils added....
yes I am being sarcastic about the stickers..

Really? Really?! A Cholesterol free watermelon? Where did you find that? Is it some kind of hybrid?

 

[hemet dennis]

Quote:
I think it's a GMO.

 

[homesteadlizzy]

Sorry if you're a cattle rancher didn't mean to offend...

 

[hemet dennis]

I really hate the pretzels that are labeled "low Cholesterol and low sodium" NEWS FLASH: I don't eat Pretzels for my health, I eat them for the Cholesterol and sodium.