Raise Grass-Fed Beef

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WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE?

The most obvious difference between grass-fed and grain-fed beef is in the light, tawny color of the fat on the former. Once the beef is cooked, however, such color differences disappear entirely.

Another dissimilarity is in the amount of fat found on the meat. On the one hand, the man or woman who ranches grass-fed cattle won't waste money raising carcasses that are enveloped in a coating of tallow. On the other hand, poorly managed grass-fed beef won't have as much fat marbled into the meat's texture as will animals that subsist on grain. Therefore, to produce really tender beef, careful feeding and careful hanging are essential.

The third factor to consider is that top grade grass-fed cattle take longer to raise than do feedlot animals, but keep in mind that it's darned expensive to force-feed a steer on grain so he can be killed a year earlier . . . and that the extra time required for a beast on a grass diet produces a carcass-even in a relatively light breed such as Angus-that's about 200 pounds heavier than the 900 pounders now popular with commercial outfits.

IT STARTS IN THE PASTURE

You can start to improve the quality of your meat a long time before slaughter if you pay attention to the rule often voiced by old-time cattle ranchers: Know your pasture.

Your grass and hay will probably be made up of locally favored forage. In Alberta, for example, the standard mixture is alfalfa and brome, while southern U.S. farmers may plant orchard grass and landino clover. But no matter what your climate and soil, there are certain general hay-growing rules that hold true.

First, a pasture that combines grass and legumes has many advantages over a single-crop field. Most legumes are nitrogen fixers and provide higher levels of protein, calcium, and magnesium than grasses do. In addition, their longer root systems keep fields from rapidly becoming sodbound.

Grasses, in turn, reduce the danger of your animals' contracting bloat from the legumes. They also speed up the drying process if you make hay . . . and hold the legumes upright, making cutting easier. Finally, many animals prefer a mixed feed. (By the way, don't be too fanatical about cleaning out weeds. Eliminate any poisonous species, of course . . . but chicory, say-or a few lamb's-quarters-will add some trace minerals to your beasts' diets.)

Remember, too, that both cattle and land benefit by simple rotation grazing.

Any pasture crop can be safely eaten down to about two inches. At that stage there's practically no leaf surface left, so you should move your cattle out. Then, if you watch, you'll notice a basic three stage pattern in the recovering field. For the first few days (three or four in a lush pasture, five or six in drier areas) the grass will grow slowly. But—once some leaves are out—there'll be a burst of growth. During the second stage, the pounds of forage per acre can multiply as much as 10 times in 12 days. Finally, the pasture will reach maturity, the grasses will begin to crowd and dry out, and the nutritional value of the forage will drop.

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