Note to self. Never talk to a farmer about grass feeding

[Mackay]

Went though an uncomfortable conversation about this with my sister in law a few days ago. She finishes her cattle with grain for the last 3 weeks or so.

The thing with finishing with grain is not so much that it adds fat to the meat, but that it changes the QUALTIY of the meat so that it is not good for human health. And it only takes 2 to 3 weeks to do it.

If you leave your cattle only grass fed until slaughter they will have fats similar in quality to wild salmon.

She really didn't want to hear that... but I say, tough luck. You know it now.... actually I didn't say that to her...

she cut the conversation short and I left it at that.

No sense rubbing salt into a wound

 

[MsPony]

I'm more afraid of draft mules then a little cow. Ugh, you know when an equine jumps and they go on one hoof, their ENTIRE body, before they tuck to jump? Yeah I was leading a HUGE draft mule, did exactly that to my foot before jumping a retaining wall. I was so pissed I pulled the mule back over, shoved it 7 ft over and slammed the stall dutch doors shut on the freaking animal. My foot broke btw lol, yay for high arches?

I want that cow!!

 

[Wifezilla]

The thing with finishing with grain is not so much that it adds fat to the meat, but that it changes the QUALTIY of the meat so that it is not good for human health

Yes, it shifts the fatty acid profile away from being high in omega 3's to being high in omega 6's.

 

[freemotion]

WZ, Oh Great Computer Nerd, can you bring up some links??

 

[Wifezilla]

http://www.eatwild.com/healthbenefits.htm

"Meat from grass-fed animals has two to four times more omega-3 fatty acids than meat from grain- fed animals. Omega-3s are called "good fats" because they play a vital role in every cell and system in your body. For example, of all the fats, they are the most heart-friendly. People who have ample amounts of omega-3s in their diet are less likely to have high blood pressure or an irregular heartbeat. Remarkably, they are 50 percent less likely to suffer a heart attack.[3] Omega-3s are essential for your brain as well. People with a diet rich in omega-3s are less likely to suffer from depression, schizophrenia, attention deficit disorder (hyperactivity), or Alzheimer's disease.[4]

Another benefit of omega-3s is that they may reduce your risk of cancer. In animal studies, these essential fats have slowed the growth of a wide array of cancers and also kept them from spreading.[5] Although the human research is in its infancy, researchers have shown that omega-3s can slow or even reverse the extreme weight loss that accompanies advanced cancer and also hasten recovery from surgery.[6,7]

Omega-3s are most abundant in seafood and certain nuts and seeds such as flaxseeds and walnuts, but they are also found in animals raised on pasture. The reason is simple. Omega-3s are formed in the chloroplasts of green leaves and algae. Sixty percent of the fatty acids in grass are omega-3s. When cattle are taken off omega-3 rich grass and shipped to a feedlot to be fattened on omega-3 poor grain, they begin losing their store of this beneficial fat. Each day that an animal spends in the feedlot, its supply of omega-3s is diminished."

 

[Mackay]

The thing with finishing with grain is not so much that it adds fat to the meat, but that it changes the QUALTIY of the meat so that it is not good for human health

Yes, it shifts the fatty acid profile away from being high in omega 3's to being high in omega 6's.

and this is of crucial importance if you want quality meat.

Sometimes grass fed cattle are not as tender, and farmers get irritable about the prospects of their cattle loosing favor on the market...

You can keep eating this stuff and send yourself to an early grave or you can eat meat that has been raised on the type of feed that cattle, and really, all grazing animals, naturally have always eaten, and that is grass, and only grass and weeds. And they can be picky about those weeds too. (except for goats of course)

 

[Blackbird]

Goats are some of the pickiest animals I know of!

 

[MsPony]

My goats lovedddd TJs clam crackers!! But a bagel? Pssh, so beneath them.

My horses think milkweed is candy.

 

[Denim Deb]

My goats won't eat hay if it's been rained on!

 

[freemotion]

OK, WZ, I knew all that....what I can't find is stats on light grain-feeding of pastured animals who never see a feedlot, but are grain lightly....not by the bushel with antibiotics to keep them alive on this bacteria-promoting diet....but lightly while still on pasture.

That article seems to be about taking an animal off pasture, cramming it into a feedlot-type situation, and stuffing it with corn.