Finishing Angus on Good Grass Without Losing the Steak

Plenty of ranchers have moved to adaptive grazing and long rest periods because it grows more grass and holds more moisture. Now there is research suggesting that kind of pasture may change the beef too. That is interesting, and it can help you sell. But a steak that is full of vitamins and eats like leather will not bring a customer back. Here is how to think about both ends.

What the research found

A USDA SARE project compared grass-fed and grain-fed beef from three cooperating farms. In ribeye steaks they detected 195 phytonutrients. Thirty-nine differed significantly: thirty were higher in the grass-fed beef and nine higher in the grain-fed. The grass-fed steaks had about 88 percent more alpha-tocopherol, a form of vitamin E, and about 53 percent more beta-carotene. Grain-fed beef came out 15 to 35 percent higher in some B vitamins. So this is not a clean sweep for grass.

The project also tied diverse, well-rested pastures to higher alpha-tocopherol and phytonutrient levels in the meat. That is good news if you manage that way. Remember, though, that three farms is a small sample. It points a direction. It does not promise your steers will do the same.

Eating quality was a different question

The work I just described did not score tenderness or flavor. So nobody should tell you that more bioactives mean a better steak. What decides how a steak eats is the same list it has always been: marbling, age, genetics, handling and aging. USDA grading ties marbling to grade. Choice calls for at least a small amount, Prime at least slightly abundant. Cattle finished only on forage can take longer to get there, and the quality of the grass in the last months is a big factor.

How to keep quality up while you chase diversity

1. Pick cattle that can do it. Frame score, maturity and marbling genetics matter more on forage than in a feedlot. farm.fm's page on understanding bulls is a good place to think about what the sire contributes.
2. Finish on your best grass. Hold your highest-quality paddocks for the last 90 to 120 days and do not let those cattle run out of leaf. A steer that stalls loses fat he just put on.
3. Watch age. An old steer on rough forage eats strong and tough. Target a harvest age you can hit every year.
4. Handle them quietly. Stress before the plant causes dark cutters and tough meat. Load gently, haul short and keep groups together.
5. Age the beef. A couple of weeks in the cooler helps tenderness.

Grazing management is still the foundation

If you want diverse pasture, you manage for it. Rest periods that let plants recover, stocking rates that match the season, and a plan for dry years all come first. Our own guide to paddocks, rest periods and stocking rate goes through the basics. The ATTRA sustainable agriculture program has more detail on grazing systems.

Weather and the calendar

Pasture quality moves with the season, and a Michigan State paper that compared mixed-species pasture to a grain ration saw the pasture's makeup shift from month to month and between two years. That means a steer finished in a wet June and one finished in a dry September are not the same animal on the plate. Plan your finishing window around when your grass is at its best, keep a stockpile or a hay plan for when it is not, and write down what each group ate. If the numbers wobble from batch to batch, that is normal, and it is a good reason not to promise one fixed result to a customer.

How to talk about it

Say what you do. Rotational grazing, rest periods, the plants in your pasture, days on grass, age at harvest. You can say that research found differences in some phytonutrients between grass-fed and grain-fed beef. Leave off any claim about curing or preventing disease, and do not print a number you did not measure. If the label crosses state lines, USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service has to approve it, and rules change. Call before you print.

Measure it yourself

If you want to know what your beef is, pull samples from several animals and more than one season. Write down the pasture and days on feed for each. Send them to an accredited lab and keep the results. Then feed the steaks to people. A customer who says "that is the best steak I have had" tells you more than a test sheet. Carcass data helps too, and the University of Nebraska beef program at beef.unl.edu has material on reading it.

The bottom line

Good grass management and good beef are not the same job, but they can share a pasture. Do the grazing right, pick cattle that can finish, protect them from stress and age the meat. Then you can tell the story with a straight face. Look for buyers and processors on the Agriculture Directory. We are independent and not affiliated with the American Angus Association or Certified Angus Beef.