Grass-Fed, Grassfed, Grass Fed, it’s all the same, but what does it mean?
When you see "grass-fed" (or grassfed or grass fed…) on a package of beef, you might picture cows frolicking in wide-open pastures, and grazing on lush, green grass out in the sunshine all day long. It’s a charming image, but it’s not exactly reality.
The truth is marketers have painted this idealized image, and many consumers have bought into it, often paying a premium for grass-fed beef under the impression that grass-fed cows are treated better and not fed GMO corn. But here’s the catch: how an animal is treated has nothing to do with its diet, and there are no regulations preventing grass-fed cattle from consuming GMO corn plants.
Regardless of why you see grass-fed beef as superior, let’s unpack what “grass-fed” really means.
What Does Grass-fed NOT Mean?
Before we get into what grass-fed is, let’s talk about what it’s NOT.
Grass-fed ≠ organic
Grass-fed ≠ GMO free
Grass-fed ≠ pesticide free
Grass-fed ≠ antibiotic free
Grass-fed ≠ healthier cows
Grass-fed ≠ cows that are treated better
If you’ve been paying extra money for beef or dairy products labeled as being from “grass-fed” cows for any of the reasons listed above, then save your money friend because you’ve been paying for nothing more than a marketing ploy.
[Please note, for this blog post, I’ll be focusing solely on the USDA’s rules for what qualifies as grass fed. There are other independent organizations that have their own standards for what qualifies as grass fed that may include more specific rules than the USDA has.]
Here’s the truth: the diet of all cows will mainly be some form of grass for the majority of their lives. Grass makes up the foundation of every cow’s diet, even the “grain-fed” ones, whether that grass is fresh from a pasture, dried hay, silage, or another form of preserved forage.
What The USDA Has To Say
According to the USDA, in order to legally claim your cattle was “grass fed”...
“grass and forage shall be the feed source consumed for the lifetime of the ruminant animal, with the exception of milk consumed prior to weaning. The diet shall be derived solely from forage consisting of grass (annual and perennial), forbs (e.g., legumes, Brassica), browse, or cereal grain crops in the vegetative (pre-grain) state. Animals cannot be fed grain or grain byproducts and must have continuous access to pasture during the growing season.”
Source: https://ask.usda.gov/s/article/What-is-grass-fed-meat
Let’s break that down into plain English.
“grass and forage shall be the feed source consumed for the lifetime of the ruminant animal, with the exception of milk consumed prior to weaning.”
This bit’s pretty simple. When a calf is a baby, it can drink milk from its mom. Once it’s grown up, it can only eat “grass and forage”. But what’s forage, you ask. Well, that’s defined in the next sentence.
“The diet shall be derived solely from forage consisting of grass (annual and perennial), forbs (e.g., legumes, Brassica), browse, or cereal grain crops in the vegetative (pre-grain) state.”
Let’s take a closer look at all the things a grass-fed cow is allowed to eat, because contrary to its name, there’s a LOT more to grass-fed than just “grass”.
Grass (annual and perennial): While this may seem simple at first glance, there are actually over 10,000 different plant species around the world belonging to the grass family. As far as a cow’s diet goes, “grass” can mean grazing in a pasture, being fed a bale of dried hay, or even eating fermented haylage or silage.
Forbs (e.g., legumes, Barassia): These typically look like the plants that come to mind when we picture herbs. Forbes you’ve likely heard of include kale, turnips, and legumes such as beans, peanuts, alfalfa, and clover.
Browse: This is a pretty broad category and includes things like briars, sumac, sagebrush…basically twigs, leaves, or buds from different trees or shrubs.
Cereal grain crops in the vegetative (pre-grain) state: [This one’s my favorite…] Cereal grains are a type of grass including barley, oats, rice, sorghum, wheat, and corn. Yes, you read that correctly. CORN is a GRASS. So technically speaking, grass-fed cows can still eat corn as long as it’s harvested before it hits the grain stage of growth, aka before the plant hits its reproductive stage and starts putting all its energy into growing kernels.
Please note: There are GMO varieties of alfalfa, soybeans, and corn available in the US. That means your “grass-fed” beef could absolutely still be consuming GMO crops.
“Animals cannot be fed grain or grain byproducts…”
Remember how grass-fed cows are allowed to have cereal grain crops in the vegetative stage? This next bit of the USDA’s rules for grass-fed basically mean the cows CAN’T eat the cereal grain crops once they’re at the reproductive stage.
“...must have continuous access to pasture during the growing season”
THIS is the piece that I believe led to marketing departments slapping an image of a cow in a field on the label of their “grass-fed” beef. But the reality of it is, not all climates allow for pasture access year round, AND even if a cow is able to roam out in a pasture, sometimes the weather is shitty and they’d rather be sheltered in a barn under a roof.
What The USDA Doesn’t Say
Now let’s circle back to all the things NOT said in the USDA’s rules for labeling beef as grass-fed.
→ They don’t say the cow’s food has to be organic.
→ They don’t say anything about GMOs.
→ They don’t say the food has to be grown without the use of pesticides, → herbicides, or fungicides.
→ They don’t say the animals can’t be treated with antibiotics or given vaccines.
→ They don’t say grass-fed cows are healthier.
→ They don’t say anything about how the animals are treated. That means a farm that raises grass-fed cows can abuse their animals, and a farm supplementing their cattle with grain does not equate to those animals being abused.
Literally all the “grass-fed” label is able to tell you, per rules set forth by the USDA, is what the cow ate and where it had the opportunity to eat it.
Grass-Fed vs Grass-Finished vs Grain-Fed
Now let’s briefly talk about the differences between “grass-fed”, “grass-finished”, and “grain-fed”.
Grass-Fed: the animal followed the grass-fed rules explained above for its entire life
Grass-Finished: the animal may or may not have followed the rules throughout its life, but it did follow the grass-fed rules at the tail end of its life before being slaughtered
Grain-Fed: the animal was fed grain. This does NOT mean they ate exclusively grain all day, every day because again, the main source of nutrition for all cattle is some type of grass. I personally believe that “grain-supplemented” is a much clearer term than grain-fed, but having more transparent ways to talk about food production wouldn’t work in favor of the marketing departments, now would it…
I May Be Wrong But…
I truly believe the heart of the grass-fed vs. grain-fed debate is more about marketing and profit than the actual differences between the two. I’m tired of companies misleading consumers into paying more for something that isn’t necessarily “better” and that doesn’t actually align with the consumer’s values.
One of my values as both a farmer and a content creator is to be honest and transparent, so I want to make it clear that my goal with this post is not to discourage you from buying grass fed beef, but to make sure you’re choosing it for the right reasons and not falling victim to clever marketing. Too often, consumers pay a premium for grass-fed beef based on misleading implications about its health benefits or how the cattle are raised. If you still prefer grass-fed, that’s totally fine! I just want you to have the facts, so you can make an informed decision based on what truly matters to you.
If this gave you a new perspective, share it with others so they can make informed choices too!
