Why Grass Fed Beef Is More Expensive Than Grain Fed

As a health-conscious and environmentally aware person, you want to know where your food comes from. That’s where 100 percent grass fed beef comes in. While you can expect to pay a little more for grass fed beef over its grain fed counterparts, the benefits of grass fed beef far outweigh the higher prices.

When you order grass fed beef delivery from Thousand Hills Lifetime Grazed, the meat comes from an animal that has spent its entire lifetime grazing in the way that cattle evolved to graze. Not only will you receive delicious, healthy food, but you are supporting a sustainable method of farming and caring for the earth.

Grass Fed vs. Grain Fed

Cattle are made to roam and forage. In the U.S., beef calves nurse from their mothers, then eat grass for the first few months of their lives. Those destined for grain feeding are then moved to feedlots.

Grain fed cattle consume a diet heavy in corn and soy, along with various additives designed to fatten them quickly. They receive small amounts of hay. There is nothing natural about the way they are raised. The cattle are kept in close quarters. After a few months, they head to the slaughterhouse.

Alternatively, grass fed cattle that are Lifetime Grazed consume grass their entire lives, with no confined feeding. They do not receive grain or byproducts or any Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs). In nature, cows do not eat corn. Their ruminant digestive system is designed to eat grasses. Cattle raised in feedlots may experience digestive issues that do not occur with 100 percent grass fed beef.  

Grass Fed Cattle = Superior Meat Product

Regenerative agriculture is sustainable agriculture. It encourages biodiversity and restoration of natural resources, rather than the depletion occurring with many conventional farming practices. The natural grazing of cattle benefits the soil without the use of herbicides and chemicals.

Grass fed cattle take longer to meet their processing weight than feedlot animals. That extra year required to meet the necessary weight is also another year’s worth of food and labor. Even then, the grass fed cow still weighs less than an animal raised in a feedlot. That affects the rancher’s profit margin, but results in a superior product.

Nutritional Differences

Grass fed beef provides more nutritional value than grain-raised stock. The meat of cows raised on grass contains more vitamins and antioxidants than standard beef, as well as double to five times the amount of omega-3 fatty acids.

Total fat content in grass fed beef is lower than in grain fed beef. Its fats are healthier and, unlike grain fed beef, not likely to raise cholesterol levels. The fat from grass fed beef may appear more yellow, but that is due to elevated carotenoid content from natural grazing. The body produces vitamin A from carotenoids. Vitamin A is critical for maintaining the immune system and vision health, and may lower the risk of developing certain cancers. There is far more vitamin A available in grass fed beef than the grain fed variety, and that also holds true for the B vitamins and vitamin E.   

Keep in mind that less fat in meat means fewer total calories. You can enjoy 100 percent grass fed beef knowing it is better for your waistline. The fat content of grass fed beef is equivalent to that of skinless chicken. The lower levels of saturated fat found in grass fed beef make it heart-healthy.

Along with the nutritional advantages of 100 percent grass fed beef, there is also what you do not get. The meat is not laced with the growth hormones, antibiotics, or residue of the bio-agonists given to feedlot cattle. Beef from sustainably-raised cattle is less likely to harbor antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

Buy Your 100% Grass Fed Beef from Thousand Hills Lifetime Grazed

What is grass fed beef? The technical answer refers to the way cattle are raised, but the question is deeper than that. At Thousand Hills Lifetime Grazed, we know that regenerative agricultural practices help all of us.

All of our products are American Grass-Fed Certified. Order our 100 percent Grass Fed Beef steaks, roasts, stews, ground beef, and burgers, or sign up for one of our subscription bundles.