Raising beef on grass has little known benefits
11:47 a.m. Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Melvin Williams calls his cattle to graze in greener pastures, and they usually come.
"'Cause they know they're gonna get to go to something better," Melvin, co-owner of MJ Ranch, said.
Melvin and his wife, Joyce, are ranchers. They don't raise your typical corn or grain fed beef. They raise grass-fed beef.
Joyce and Melvin, owners of MJ Ranch, treat their cattle very humanely. The couple stay with their cattle until they're ready to be processed to keep the stress level down. They say stressed cattle can give beef an off-taste. For more information about grass fed beef and where you can buy Melvin and Joyce's MJ Ranch beef please call them at (785) 865-2503 or log on to the Kansas State Research and Extension Web site.
You can find addtional information from LocalHarvest.org and EatWild.com.
"Grass fed beef is beef that had been on grass all their life," Joyce, Melvin's wife, said. "We raise our own alfalfa, our own good brome. We have a lot of clover in the hay."
The couple has raised beef this way for about 12 years.
"Cattle were meant to be grazers," she said. "They weren't meant to be fed grain."
Joyce says they practice this approach to cattle farming because of the health benefits of grass fed beef.
"The essential fatty acids in grass fed beef is so much higher," she said. "The Omega-3s, the CLAs, the Vitamin Es, is three to four more times higher in the grass fed beef. Those nutrients, those essential fatty acids come from the grass."
Essential fatty acids are the good fats. They play a vital role in the human body. Those with high amounts of essential fatty acids may have a lower risk of cancer, or heart attack.
According to the Journal of Animal Science each day cattle is taken off grass, the Omega-3s decline.
Grass fed beef is also lower in overall fat. The Web site Eatwild says, if your diet stayed the same, but you switched to grass fed beef you can loose about six pounds in a year.
Joyce says she is concerned about what is happening generally to cattle.
"We've all heard of what's happening with our animals today. We've heard of mad cow," she said. "We've heard of all of this. And yes, that's, it's very scary I think."
Both Joyce and Melvin want the public to be aware of another side of beef.
"I think what we're doing is offering people a choice. They can look at the health benefits," Melvin said. "And if that's really what they want, then I think that's what they should have."
Joyce echoed her husband's statement.
"I want them to be healthy too," Joyce said. "I want them to realize the benefits of it for their health."
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