The Amazing Benefits of Grass-Fed Beef

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Managed intensive grazing builds fertile soil by pumping carbon into the ground.
Managed intensive grazing builds fertile soil by pumping carbon into the ground.
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We still have a lot to learn about soil and grassland ecosystems.
We still have a lot to learn about soil and grassland ecosystems.
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Grass-feeding isn’t just for cattle. These sheep prefer grazing to grain, too.
Grass-feeding isn’t just for cattle. These sheep prefer grazing to grain, too.
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The natural prairie ecosystem builds fertile soil while reducing erosion and flooding.
The natural prairie ecosystem builds fertile soil while reducing erosion and flooding.
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Exposed soil leaves farmland vulnerable to erosion.
Exposed soil leaves farmland vulnerable to erosion.
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A field of corn can’t absorb nearly as much water as natural grassland, increasing the potential for flooding.
A field of corn can’t absorb nearly as much water as natural grassland, increasing the potential for flooding.
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A field of corn is a monoculture of uniform plants, and when the crop is harvested, the soil is left nearly bare.
A field of corn is a monoculture of uniform plants, and when the crop is harvested, the soil is left nearly bare.
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Look closely at any patch of prairie and you’ll find a great diversity of plants.
Look closely at any patch of prairie and you’ll find a great diversity of plants.
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Deep-rooted grasses can take advantage of water and minerals further underground than most row crops.
Deep-rooted grasses can take advantage of water and minerals further underground than most row crops.
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Prairie grasses support a great variety of animal species, too.
Prairie grasses support a great variety of animal species, too.
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Measuring soil nutrients on grassland.
Measuring soil nutrients on grassland.
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Whether for grain-fed or grass-fed beef, cattle produce methane, a potent greenhouse gas. But when given proper nutrition — such as what they obtain from grazing on high quality pasture — cattle produce less methane.
Whether for grain-fed or grass-fed beef, cattle produce methane, a potent greenhouse gas. But when given proper nutrition — such as what they obtain from grazing on high quality pasture — cattle produce less methane.
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Grazing animals have always been part of the grassland ecosystem.
Grazing animals have always been part of the grassland ecosystem.
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Farmers are creating sustainable new models for producing meat by imitating the natural systems of the prairie.
Farmers are creating sustainable new models for producing meat by imitating the natural systems of the prairie.

I have been fascinated by the permanence and healing power of grassland for 15 years now. If we respect the great original wisdom of the prairies, I’m convinced we can heal the wounds inflicted on the American landscape by industrial agriculture.

But in America, the question is always does it scale up? This is the critical test of any potential solution to a major environmental problem. Is a given practice feasible, and are there mechanisms for spreading it to cover a whole landscape?

I first had a hint as to how this might work for America’s farms when a friend explained to me why he chose to raise bison for slaughter, marketing the meat with the guarantee the animals had eaten nothing but native grasses. He thought if he could make such a model pay on his own land, he could do more to save native landscapes than any amount of activism, litigation, or regulation. Profitable solutions self-replicate. Like viruses, they creep from one farm to the next, eventually exploding in exponential growth. They scale up.

Now there is big news on this front. A diverse collection of pioneers across the nation are raising not bison, but mostly grass-fed beef and dairy — an enterprise that can scale up quickly. They have a working model. It is not unrealistic to expect that we as a nation could convert millions of acres of ravaged industrial grain fields (plus millions of acres of land in federal conservation programs that cannot currently be used for grazing) to permanent pastures and see no decline in beef and dairy production in the bargain.

Doing so would have many benefits. It would give us a more humane livestock system, a healthier human diet, less deadly E. coli, elimination of feedlots, a bonanza of wildlife habitat nationwide, enormous savings in energy, virtual elimination of pesticides and chemical fertilizers on those lands, elimination of catastrophic flooding that periodically plagues the Mississippi Basin, and most intriguingly, a dramatic reduction in global warming gases.

  • Published on Feb 17, 2009
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