Grassfed or is it grass fed? There really is a difference between the two. The first term I define as a cow (or other ruminant) that grazes pasture throughout the growing season and is fed hay when those pastures are unproductive. These pastures are intensively managed by rotating livestock to new patches of grass (paddocks) at least every couple of days or as often as 4-5 times a day. This method has been shown to improve the soil and the quality of the forage making for superior meat and milk.
The latter is what I call an animal who does spend a majority of it’s life out on pasture, unrestrained and allowed to freely roam for weeks or months on end, eating eating their favorite grasses without any interference from the farmer. While this sounds like an idealistic, existence for the animal, it’s actually not. The cow will eat her favorite plant first, and once it starts to grow back, she bites it down again. It doesn’t take long for quality forage to be be depleted and soon the pasture is overwhelmed with noxious weeds. The quality of beef and milk from cows raised in this fashion isn’t nearly on par with what you get with intensive management.
Land that is not intensively managed and improved by raising pastured poultry or other species cannot put forth and sustain the nutrition a cow needs.
This is why you cannot assume anything and you need to know your farmer.
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