GRASS FED BEEF

OUR COWS
We raise our cows here on our pasture. They have access to pasture all day, every day. They have a barn for shelter. They get good brome hay in the winter in addition to what they forage from under the snow. They get no grain except for an occasional treat to get them to come up to the fence for a look to see how they are doing. You are welcome to come see our cows yourself. They are, indeed, happy cows.

We do not overgraze our ground, which means our cows do not stand knee deep in mud. This reduces parasite problems and heath problems with cattle immensely. We do not have to feed medicated feed to keep them from being sick because they are eating what God intended as food for ruminants– grass!

HEALTH BENEFITS
Because we raise our cows solely on grass, they take 24-30 months to mature to market weight. Slow grown, grass fed meat can contain as much as 66% less fat than corn fed, feed lot animals. However, this doesn’t mean grass fed cows are not marbled! Primarily this type of fat is around all the cow’s organs making life miserable for the animal, and a lot of this fat is trimmed off and thrown away at the butcher. (After you have paid for it of course!)

Data from J. Animal Sci 80:1202-11. [1]

Contrary to grain fed beef, grass fed beef is known to actually lower your LDL (bad) cholesterol levels. [2] If you eat a typical amount of beef, which is 66.5 pounds a year, switching to lean grass fed beef will save you 17,733 calories a year. If everything else in your diet remains constant, you’ll lose about six pounds a year just by switching your beef to grass fed beef. Grass fed beef has 2-4 times more Omega-3 fatty acid, which has many heart and cancer inhibiting benefits. The meat from the pastured cattle is four times higher in vitamin E than the meat from the feedlot cattle and, interestingly, almost twice as high as the meat from the feedlot cattle given vitamin E supplements. [3]

These are just a few reasons for switching to grass fed beef. Grass fed beef is better for human health than grain fed beef in ten different ways, according to the most comprehensive analysis to date. This 2009 study was a joint effort between the USDA and researchers at Clemson University in South Carolina. Compared with grain fed beef, grass fed beef was:

1. Lower in total fat
2. Higher in beta-carotene
3. Higher in vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol)
4. Higher in the B-vitamins thiamin and riboflavin
5. Higher in the minerals calcium, magnesium, and potassium
6. Higher in total omega-3s
7. A healthier ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids (1.65 vs 4.84)
8. Higher in CLA (cis-9 trans-11), a potential cancer fighter
9. Higher in vaccenic acid (which can be transformed into CLA)
10. Lower in the saturated fats linked with heart disease
[4]

NATURAL PROCESSING
As if this isn’t enough to make you want to switch, in addition to raising our beef on grass, we also have chosen to have them processed naturally as well. Bichelmeyer’s Meat Market in Kansas City, MO still uses the age old practice of dry aging to produce tender, flavorful meat naturally. They are the only market around the area that I know of that still dry ages their beef.

Big meat producers these days do not dry age their beef because it takes longer, costs more money, and the beef shrinks 20% in weight by water evaporation as it hangs, which all adds up to a loss of $$ for them. Dry aging beef allows nature’s enzymes to naturally tenderize the beef and the evaporation that takes place creates a beefier flavor. Mass produced meat that is wet packed in fluid is watery, bloody, and flavorless. You may have noticed this before.

MAKE A SWITCH!
We challenge you to try grass fed beef. Steaks from the store need tons of seasoning and doctoring to taste good coming off the grill. You will see that dry aged steaks need only pepper and a little salt. The flavor of dry aged beef stands alone. Why do you think the high end steak houses purchase dry aged beef?

Hamburger from a grass fed cow is amazing. It’ll make you like hamburgers again! The hamburger tastes like a ground up steak because there is no added fat or other filler. This is not to mention that hamburger purchased from us comes from 1 cow, not 3,000 cows. Just think of the bio-hazard risk of eating a hamburger that can contain meat from up to 3,000+ cows vs. hamburger meat that came from one cow. For our family, this drastically reduced bio-hazard risk alone was enough to make a change.

WANT TO TRY OUR BEEF?
We are currently taking orders for beef that will be ready to go to market June 29, 2010. We have a limited quantity. Reservations are being made now.

PRICES:
Whole cow ……………………………………………………………………..$2.25/lb hanging*
One side ………………………………………………………………………..$2.50/lb hanging*
Quarter ………………………………………………………………………….$2.75/lb hanging*

The price per pound hanging weight plus 6.3% Kansas sales tax is paid to Gallagher Farm. Hanging weight is determined by the butcher after the cow is taken to the market.

* The butchering fees, (which are 55 cents per pound hanging weight and $6.25 per quarter beef) are paid directly to Bichelmeyers upon pick up of your beef. Bichelmeyers will cut and wrap your beef according to your specifications.

If you have any questions or would like to order beef for your family, please contact us at gallagherfarm@gmail.com . Thank you for reading!

REFERENCES
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1. Rule, D. C., K. S. Brought on, S. M. Shellito, and G. Maiorano. “Comparison of Muscle Fatty Acid Profiles and Cholesterol Concentrations of Bison, Beef Cattle, Elk, and Chicken.” J Anim Sci 80, no. 5 (2002): 1202-11.

2. Davidson, M. H., D. Hunninghake, et al. (1999). “Comparison of the effects of lean red meat vs lean white meat on serum lipid levels among free-living persons with hypercholesterolemia: a long-term, randomized clinical trial.” Arch Intern Med 159(12): 1331-8. The conclusion of this study: “… diets containing primarily lean red meat or lean white meat produced similar reductions in LDL cholesterol and elevations in HDL cholesterol, which were maintained throughout the 36 weeks of treatment.”

3. Smith, G.C. “Dietary supplementation of vitamin E to cattle to improve shelf life and case life of beef for domestic and international markets.” Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado 80523-1171

4. S.K. Duckett et al, Journal of Animal Science, (published online) June 2009, “Effects of winter stocker growth rate and finishing system on: III. Tissue proximate, fatty acid, vitamin and cholesterol content.”