Grazers Grass Fed Beef

Our story
We live on a small family farm about 40km west from Magaliesburg near a tiny town called Boons. The farm has traditionally focused on commercial crops (maize, beans, sunflowers). We do not have irrigation and are completely dependent on rainfall for these crops to grow. Due to changeable (and changing) weather patterns and unreliable rainfall we started looking for sustainable farming alternatives. Grass fed beef is just that. Now we are primarily grass farmers and the cattle do what they do, naturally. They forage natural wild grass and grow at their own pace.

These cattle are holistically managed in free range forage environments. The cattle are raised and finished on a grass and forage diet, handled humanely at all times and finally processed at the cleanest, closest facility.

We use proven, sustainable, high impact grazing techniques. We support the soil in the most natural ways. We make our own compost and vermicompost. We also have a biodynamic field broadcasting pipe that we imported from Hugh Lovel in Australia in 2011, this is an economical, effective way to apply all the biodynamic preparations all the time to our land. By broadcasting the resonant, fractal patterns of homeopathic potencies of the biodynamic preparations directly into the organizational energy fields of soil and atmosphere these patterns are applied night and day 365 days a year.

Why our mince is special
We hang the carcass for a minimum of 10 days to develop flavour. We mince the whole carcass (yes, really). The only cut we keep for ourselves are the fillets. Our mince is lean, we aim for a 15% fat content, because that’s where the flavour hides and this fat is good for you.

Why grass fed beef is special
Most cows start out on pasture, drinking milk and eating grass. However, animals that are conventionally raised for beef are later moved to feedlots, confined and fed grain-based feeds which cause stress and rumen acidosis, while grass-fed animals continue to live on grass in a free ranging environment.

“You are what you eat” applies to cows too… What a cow eats effects the nutrient composition of the beef. This is blindly obvious when it comes to the fatty acid composition. Grass fed usually contains less total fat than grain fed beef, which means that gram for gram, grass fed beef contains fewer kilojules.

Grass fed beef is also higher in B-vitamins, beta-carotene (look for the yellow/cream coloured fat), vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol), vitamin K, and trace minerals like magnesium, calcium, and selenium.

The composition of the fatty acids is hugely different, this is where grass fed really shines:-
Saturated and monounsaturated: Grass fed beef has either similar, or slightly less, saturated and monounsaturated fats.
Omega-6 Polyunsaturated Fats: Grass fed and grain fed beef contain very similar amounts of Omega-6 fatty acids.
Omega-3s: This is where grass fed really makes a major difference, containing up to 5 times as much Omega-3.
Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA): Grass fed beef contains about twice as much CLA as grain-fed beef. This fatty acid is associated with reduced body fat and other benefits.

Thank you
We would like to thank Michael Pollen, Joel Salatin, Hugh Lovel and Gary Zimmer for sharing their inspirational knowledge.