By: Pam Dierks of Dierks Farms Grass Fed Beef

[optin_box style=”2″ alignment=”center” action=”https://mc305.infusionsoft.com/app/form/process/394a8fd89844b8b9c0ed64231945292d” method=”post” email_field=”inf_form_xid” email_default=”Enter your email address” integration_type=”custom” double_optin=”Y” name_field=”inf_form_xid” name_required=”Y” name_default=”Enter your first name” opm_packages=””][optin_box_hidden][/optin_box_hidden][optin_box_code]

[/optin_box_code][optin_box_field name=”headline”]New Customer Offer 10 lbs. of Grass Fed Ground Beef for Only $40![/optin_box_field][optin_box_field name=”paragraph”]PHA+UmVnaXN0ZXIgdG9kYXkgYW5kIHJlY2VpdmUgYSBzcGVjaWFsIG9mZmVyLjwvcD4K[/optin_box_field][optin_box_field name=”privacy”]We value your privacy and would never spam you[/optin_box_field][optin_box_field name=”top_color”]undefined[/optin_box_field][optin_box_button type=”0″ button_below=”Y”]Receive 10 lbs. of Grass Fed Ground Beef for Only $40[/optin_box_button] [/optin_box]

Why not just go to the grocery store and buy the cheapest beef possible? Your family, that’s why? Your family and your health is worth the little extra to purchase grass fed beef. According to Consumer Reports, if you purchase on average 2 lbs. of ground beef each week you would spend an additional $280 to $310 per year. It is worth a little additional to keep yourself and your family healthy. Why is grass fed beef higher in price? Let me explain the life of grass fed cattle verses grain fed cattle:

Grass Fed

Free-range and pasture-raised are terms that do not necessarily relate to the diet of the animals, but the areas in which they live. These animals are typically not restricted to the feedlot conditions of the most common livestock raising practices.

Grass-fed refer more specifically to the animals’ diet. Farmers who have decided to raise their cattle in this environment give their cows radically different lives from those placed in feedlots. These cattle are raised the way God intended things to be. They roam and eat grass and are not given antibiotics, steroids or grain.

Their existence is similar to experiences these animals have had for millions of years, before the dawn of agriculture, before we had billions of humans on the planet who want to eat more meat than ever before.

They are allowed to wander around in large fenced pastures, eating grass and exercising their muscles. These cattle live stress free lives.

Grain Fed

The majority of today’s cows live short lives, and see very little grass in that life. At around six months of age, they’re taken from their herds and are placed into pens where their diet consists of corn based grains.

Variety of edible seeds with ripe golden ears of wheat including whole and dehusked sunflower, sesame, poppy, linseed, pulses and legumes

This diet increases their growth rates; this causes them to gain loads of excess weight at a pace that a natural environment would never let happen. As Temple Grandin told the Washington Post, “grain is like cake and ice cream to cows”.Even if they like the taste, it’s not exactly good for them.

They are given a drugs and hormone treatments to help their bodies process this new diet and build muscle mass, along with antibiotics to keep their immune systems strong enough to survive their living conditions, which are often unsanitary.

At around 12 months, the cows are ready to be slaughtered.

Grass Fed Beef health facts seem to revolve around heart health. Rekha Mankad, M.D., in an article on the Mayo Clinic site said that grass-fed beef is more likely to have:

Less total fat
Higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids
More conjugated linoleic acid, a variety of fat that studies show may reduce risk of heart disease and certain cancers
More vitamin E and other antioxidant vitamins

A study published in Pub Med on the different feeding systems for cattle, found a significantly higher level of omega-3 fatty acids in grass-fed beef, and far lower levels of trans fat than were found in grain-fed beef.

Omega-3 fatty acids are considered to be the best kind of fats. Your body needs them to function and most of us don’t get enough of them. Cultures with higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids in their diets have lower rates of depression, asthma, ADHD, and dementia.

Trans fats are definitely the worst kind of fats. They’re uncommon in nature, and when eaten can raise your levels of bad cholesterol while lowering levels of good cholesterol.

Grass-fed beef is lower in overall fats and saturated fat, but once cows are moved to feedlots and put on grain, they begin to lose the stored omega-3 fatty acids in their bodies and begin to store fats that are considerably less healthy.

Despite all of this, grass-fed beef may not really be that much better for you. Yes, omega-3 levels are much higher, but because the levels were already so low in beef to begin with, the advantage might be negligible compared to foods like fish.

When you buy your grass fed beef in the grocery store you still wonder “where does it really come from?” Wouldn’t be nice to know that you KNOW where your grass fed beef comes from? That is a reason to purchase your grass fed beef from a family farm. Dierks Farms is a 5^th generation grass fed beef family farm where the farming habits are sustainable. Our cattle roam freely in our pastures. Dierks Farms never give antibiotics or steroids and NEVER feed grain.

Okay, so all these health benefits are great but…what about quality? Grass Fed Beef has a much better, cleaner taste than grain fed. You won’t have that heavy feeling after a meal of grass fed beef. Maybe it’s because you know what you just ate and it helps you and not hurt you. You may say “I have heard that grass fed beef is very tough” There is a difference in grass fed cattle. It is important that the farm that raises the grass fed beef you eat rotate pastures on a routine basis and that the cattle always have fresh grass to eat. It is also important that the cattle are harvested at close to 1000 pounds which will make them approximately 2 years old. Many grass fed farms try to raise their cattle to a larger weight which makes the cattle older when harvested. This will lead to tougher beef. Dierks Farms Grass Fed Beef rotate pastures on a routine basis according to weather conditions. Dierks Farms also harvests their cattle at approximately 1000 pounds which will make them approximately 2 years old. Dierks Farms Grass Fed Beef is inspected and graded Choice by the USDA. This means that our grass fed beef is tender and juicy. You are not sacrificing quality for healthy beef. If you can, why not have both?

In Conclusion

The move to Grass Fed is a very good health decision. Buying your grass fed beef from a family farm helps in giving you the knowledge of knowing how your grass fed beef is raised.

The grass fed cattle themselves get to live longer lives, and are able to roam more freely without being packed side-by-side, standing in their own filth. They won’t be injected full of questionable hormones and antibiotics – the effects of which are still up for deba te when it comes to human consumption. And if they were allowed to roam free and eat grass, it would stop causing them severe pain and suffering. Their species would get to resume their ancient o
ccupation as natural lawnmowers.And most important of all: grass-fed beef is better for you.The difference might not be staggering, but it’s real.

For more information on grass fed beef and your health, subscribe to Dierks Farms newsletter.