HEALTH
Challenging the cash cow
Though healthier for cow and human, the switch to grass-fed beef is a painful lesson in economics
By Lauren Keith
lkeith@kansan.com
No. 68 isn't lazy, but she hasn't done much today but eat Grass stems hang from her slowly-chewing mouth, and she seems irritated that the humans have disturbed her in the middle of her all-you-can-eat special.
As the sun sets on her prairie buffet in Lenexa, this black Angus cow's time on the open land may be drawing to a close. Joanne Preston, the owner of No. 68 and 74 other cattle, takes some of her cattle to auction, where they are purchased and sent to a feedlot. So far, the cattle have munched mostly on grass for the majority of their lives, but once they hit the feedlot gates, their diet will be switched to a steady routine of corn.
Preston says she feeds her cattle grain in the winter to help them survive the cold, but the feedlot's high doses of grain these cattle may soon receive is unnatural—unnaturally by nature, but necessary for Americans' demand for a 24/7 supply of beef.
Most cattle start as grass-fed, even if they end up as grain-fed.
"The grain gives the cattle the extra energy they need in the winter;" Joanne Preston says."But they get good grass all through the summer."
Economics have ensured a steady supply of grain-fed beef in the United States through corn subsidies and a seemingly insatiable appetite for hamburgers, even though grain prices have increased. However, some farmers have seen the benefit—but unfortunately, usually not monetarily—of keeping cattle grass-fed their entire lives.
Thanks to federal corn subsidies, the price of corn is about 75 cents less than the cost to grow it. Michael Pollan, author of The Omnivore's Dilemma, writes that because of this, the U.S. Department of Agriculture helps farmers easily dispose of their surplus corn by having animals convert as much of it as possible into protein for people to eat.
Grass-fed calves usually don't need antibiotics, but after switching to a diet of corn, Pollan says they become prone to sickness.
"The shift to a 'hot ration' of grain can so disturb the cow's digestive process that it can kill the animal if not managed carefully and accompanied by antibiotics." Pollan writes in his article "Power Steer"
But as the demand for beef increased after World War II, the then-fledgling beef industry found a powerful tool in corn.
"Compared with grass or hay, corn is a compact and portable foodstuff, making it possible to feed tens of thousands of animals on small plots of land," Pollan writes. "Without cheap corn, the modern urbanization of livestock would probably never have occurred."
And neither would have McDonald's.
"Farmers would optimize grass production to sell cattle at the end of the fall," says Larry Hollis, a specialist in cattle health at Kansas State University. "That used to be the way it was sold in the olden days, but that's not how McDonald's operates. They sell hamburgers 365 days a year."
Local farmer Joyce Williams raises grass-
fed cattle, but, at first, not because she saw the potential negative effects of feeding cattle grain.
"We have never fed them grain because we never realized that they needed it," Williams says. "The cattle looked healthy and tasted good, so why did they need grain?"
Williams, co-owner of MJ Ranch in Lawrence, says the business has never made a lot of money from its grass-fed beef.
"The market is all about dollar signs," Williams says. "But it's not the right thing to do for the animals."
However, market demands have changed in recent years, and more consumers look for grass-fed beef.
Williams says the ranch has had a lot of visitors recently.
"People come to us and see that what we're doing is what we say we are doing," she says.
MJ Ranch has already sold out of its
grass-fed beef for the year, the first time this has happened so early in the season.
Hollis estimates that about 5 percent of cattle consumed in the United States are entirely grass-fed,but says this niche market is developing.
However, for some farmers,the cost of having more land for grass-fed cattle is far more expensive than spending more money on pricier feed.
"You have to own a lot of grass or buy a lot of feed," Hollis says. "Feed cost is extremely high, and it has affected the price of owning grazing land. This is driving up the price of grass-fed cattle because we are growing less corn."
In the end, it boils down to an economic showdown. But the consumer seems to gradually be accepting a cow like No. 68. one that is slower grown but more naturally raised.
Grass-fed facts
- A study by Cornell University found that grass-fed animals have about 300 times less E. coli than their grain-fed counterparts.
- Feedlot cattle are typically fed corn, soy and other types of feed that can include "by-product feedstuff"
- Corn is a high-energy food that decreased the time needed to fatten cattle for beef production.
- A proposal to end the use of cow blood, restaurant scraps and poultry fecal matter as feed for cattle has yet to be implemented.
- U.S. regulations only partially prohibit animal by-products in cattle feed, but by-products from cattle can still be legally fed to pets or other livestock.
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September 4,2008