Does Your Grass Fed Beef
Pass The Test?
Protocols of Dr. Patricia
Whisnant
Grass Farmer and Veterinarian
www.AmericanGrassFedBeef.com
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Grass Fed Beef Test
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Why This Item Is Important
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Does your cattle's nutrition come totally from grass
and natural forage pastures using organic farming methods their entire
lives?
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Do you know that almost 100% of cattle in the United States are grass
fed at some point in their lives? However, if cattle are fed animal by-products
or a "vegetarian diet of grains or corn" during any period of
their lives and especially during the finishing stage (last 90 days),
these cattle DO NOT qualify as grass fed beef. If cattle are NOT raised on
grass and finished on grass pastures eating entirely natural forage and grass, most of the health
benefits from grass fed beef are totally destroyed.
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Do you enforce a a firm policy to NEVER
give your cattle growth hormones, steroids
or antibiotics even for therapeutic purposes? If a cow is ever given
hormones, steroids or antibiotics, is the instance documented and the
cow removed from your grass fed beef program?
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Due to health concerns, Europe has banned
the import of American beef raised using hormones, steroids and
antibiotics. In our opinion there are NO "safe"
hormone, steroid or antibiotic residues for our families to consume in beef.
Here is an interesting loophole used by many large producers . .
. cattle in feedlots will almost assuredly need prophylactic
antibiotics. Their unnatural diet of grain and by-products require
antibiotics to keep them from crashing. Do NOT allow your beef
supplier to play word games . . . your beef supplier should NOT allow therapeutic or prophylactic
antibiotics.
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Are your cattle provided with adequate grass pastures for free
roaming with supervised pasture rotation?
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There are a lot of marketing claims for
"free range beef". Free range is not enough . .
. cattle need to be rotated to fresh pastures regularly. If they are
not rotated, cattle will tend to graze in one area, deplete the land and
not get maximum nutrition from their forage diets. Pasture rotation,
also, decreases contact with potential disease causing pathogens and
parasites. Cattle need to be closely supervised and rotated
to new pastures on a regular almost daily schedule.
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Do you have a firm enforced policy of NEVER
using artificial fertilizers, weed control chemicals or
pesticides on your cattle grazing land?
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If properly managed, cattle return to the land
what they take out of it in forage by natural fertilization and animal aeration. Intensive pasture rotation complements the natural cycle of
nitrogen, minerals and water. This eliminates the need for fossil
fuel, heavy artificial fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides.
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Are your cattle finished for 90 to 120 days in
special finishing pastures of alfalfa, grass and high nutrition forage?
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The finishing stage is extremely
crucial. If cattle are fed a "vegetarian" grain/corn diet, growth hormones,
antibiotics, steroids and/or animal by-products during the finishing stage
to quickly gain weight . . . their beef will lose the documented health
benefits of grass fed beef. Even grass fed cattle fed hay
during this stage will not provide the healthiest grass fed beef possible
for your family's health.
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Do you enforce a firm policy to NEVER
finish your cattle in feedlots?
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Most cattle start out on grass but feedlots
are where the majority of the cattle in our country are finished. Feedlot
beef is NEVER grass fed beef. Feedlots
are designed to pack thousands of cows into a cramped area to put on
the greatest gain in the shortest amount of time for the greatest
profit. This means they are fed a least cost ration based on
"vegetarian" grain boosted with growth steroids and often
includes animal by products. It may be cheap and quick but it is NOT
healthy for cattle or for us. ONLY
if cows are raised AND finished in grass pastures will they have the
documented benefits of grass fed beef.
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Are your cattle harvested at 18 to 24 months of
age?
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Older cattle do not produce tender, flavorful
beef. Many times so called "grass fed beef" is beef from
older dairy cows that aren't productive any longer. These cows
eat grass and have not been fattened in a feed lot so they are sold as "grass fed" beef.
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Do you only take small groups of cattle
(less than 10 cows) with no unnecessary
stress for processing?
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Cattle are usually transported by semi-trucks
to the processing plant which adds to their stress. This is at best
uncomfortable to the animal (adding to their stress) and mass
transportation can even be considered inhumane. Stressed
cattle affects the taste and the tenderness of your beef.
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Are cows processed individually with the
processing area sterilized between each cow with skilled labor
implementing government standards for safe processing?
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90% of the beef in this country is
processed at the rate of 400 cows per hour by unskilled labor. The
large beef recalls in this country have all come from facilities with
these breakneck speeds.
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Is your grass fed beef NEVER irradiated or
chemically bathed?
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Large processing facilities will regularly
use irradiation and chemical baths to compensate for breakneck
processing speeds and unclean environments.
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Do you use skilled butcher labor for processing
cattle?
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A skilled, trained butcher not only knows how
to safely handle beef to minimize contamination but also knows how to
produce gourmet cuts for discerning customers. They are skilled
craftsmen who take pride in their work.
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Is your grass fed beef dry aged for a minimum of 14
days?
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Grass fed beef is an extremely lean
beef. The art of dry aging tenderizes the beef and
concentrates its wonderful beefy flavor. Wet aging (in the
vacuum sealed bag) or no aging
will NOT provide the same gourmet results. Dry aging is a simple,
natural process but an expensive one. Dry aging requires long
storage (at least 2 weeks), shrinkage (equates to 15-20% less marketable
beef) and a skilled experienced butcher to do it correctly. In the
profit conscious and mass production oriented beef industry, dry aging
is becoming a lost art.
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Is your beef safely and quickly shipped without the use
of hazardous dry ice?
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Why ship grass fed beef, a health food
item, using dry ice which is considered a hazardous material? Your shipping company is not allowed to leave hazardous
materials on your doorstep. This can lengthen your delivery process
and chance of spoilage.
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Is your grass fed beef packaged in small servings
and vacuum
sealed for convenience?
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Vacuum sealed packages in small servings can
be prepared quickly with no waste. Also, vacuum sealed packages
have twice the shelf life in the freezer over butcher wrapped beef
commonly used by other grass fed beef farms.
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866-255-5002 
