Grass-Fed Beef Fed Corn? Deciphering Beef Labels
posted on
August 11, 2022
As a consumer looking for the healthiest beef options to feed your family, labels can make this so confusing.
You have Organic, All-Natural, Pasture-Raised, Grass-Fed, Grass-Finished, and it's been so long since I've had to shop the grocery store for meat I'm probably missing some but I think I'll start with these.
It wasn't very many years ago I was a grocery store shopper who looked for the cheapest ground beef and would bring the giant package home, split it all up into smaller chunks and refreeze. You know, being thrifty.
Cheap food has its place. I've been peanut butter sandwich poor, and I know inexpensive commodity goods help keep bellies full. I judge no one for making that decision for their family, especially when the choices are cheap ground beef or a box of Twinkies.
What does bother me though, is when large corporations (and some farms and butcher shops) market themselves as having quality products and charge a premium price, when it’s the same as the cheap mass produced stuff next to it on the shelf.
2026 update - I'm seeing this even more now that beef market prices are incredibly high. It's cheaper to buy in commodity boxed beef and resell it than raise and process their own steers.
The meats and eggs you get from farms like ours are far superior in quality and nutrient density compared to what you’ll find in any grocery store or delivery service - even if the cute labels, certifications and “creative” marketing campaigns seem otherwise.
This blog post is simply to help decode some of the labels you'll see as you're shopping for beef, and also so you know what questions you'll want to ask to be sure you're getting the product you want.
It's not my style to criticize conventional beef production or say my way of raising beef 100% on grass without any grain is the way everyone should be doing it.
What we prefer and what works for our farm doesn't work for everyone. What's most important to me is that you know what you're buying and that you make efforts to buy it locally.
Ok, let's dive into the labels!
Organic - I think we all have this vision that organic cattle are grass-fed on lush green pastures and live a superior life to those raised conventionally. The reality is, if you're buying organic beef from any grocery store the animal was more than likely raised in confinement just like a conventional steer.
The only difference was they were fed organic grain and no antibiotics or growth hormones.
Much of this beef is also imported from overseas, which I question how much we can trust their practices.
All-Natural - This is a super vague term that really doesn't mean a whole lot when you see it on any food label. Typically, this means the cattle were not given a growth hormone implant or antibiotics but are fed conventional GMO grain in a feedlot type setting.
If you're buying locally, this is still going to be better than what you'll find at the grocery store, but ask your farmer questions so you know their production practices.
Pasture-Raised - this usually means is that cattle were given access to pasture while being fed grain.
I've known some farms that have lots of pasture acreage and a significant portion of the animals diet came from forage, but I've also seen others where they are basically on a dirt lot with no grass and the majority of their diet came from grain. Ask questions!
Grass-Fed - here's the big shocker - the label "Grass-Fed" can be applied to cattle that ate grass for part of their life but then were "finished" on grain.
The reason this matters is because once a steer starts eating grain, the ratio of Omega 3's to Omega 6's immediately begins to change along with the concentration of CLA's, vitamins and minerals that come straight from the forage diet the cattle are consuming.
I think it’s misleading to allow beef that ate grain to be labeled as grass-fed, but they don’t let me make the rules.
Most of the grass-fed beef in grocery stores is also imported from around the world. This is ridiculous since American farmers are raising quality beef right here. I also personally worry about chemical and heavy metal contamination when we truly don't know where or how these animals are being raised.
100% Grass-Finished - This is how we raise our beef!
Our cattle have been fed and finished on nothing but grass and forage from our organically managed pastures. If you're searching for grass-fed beef, this is probably the product you're looking for.
A question I get sometimes is - can you really raise 100% grass-fed and finished beef in Ohio? What happens in winter when the grass isn't growing?
The answer is yes - it is possible and here's how we do it!
In the Spring/Summer/Fall they are out on pasture grazing and in the Winter we feed them hay, which is just dried and baled forage. Our cattle are never fed grain.
Finishing beef on forage alone does take more management from the farmer and longer for the animal to grow, but it's the quality beef I want to feed my family, and what works well for our farm.
Our grass-finished beef is some of the most nutrient dense beef you can find because they've been raised on regenerative pastures. Our soil is rich with minerals, which ends up in the forage the cattle eat, which ends up in the end product. It's like eating a multi-vitamin in every burger!
I feel like I should mention here too that not all grass-finished beef is created equal. Raising GOOD grass-finished beef takes a combination of the right cattle genetics, the right forages, and the right management - which we've gotten really good at over the last 10 years.
If you've tried another farms grass-finished beef before and didn't love it - we encourage you to grab a couple of our steaks and burgers and try it again!
No matter which type of beef you buy or the farm it comes from, it's important to seek out local options. My goal here is to help you be an informed beef shopper so you are confident knowing what type of beef you're buying for your family!
Buying locally supports profitable family farms and rural economies, it keeps beef from traveling across the country and world to get to store shelves, it tastes soooo much better, and it allows you as a consumer to have a connection to your farmer and food.
