Hormone-Free, Antibiotic-Free, Natural: Paperwork and Plain Truth

Some markets pay extra for cattle raised without added hormones or without antibiotics. Before you chase that premium, understand the deal. You are not selling a better steak. You are selling a promise, and the promise is only worth what your records can prove.

Process versus product

A claim about how the animal lived is a process claim. A claim about what is in the cooler is a product claim. Hormone and antibiotic statements are process claims. They tell a buyer what went into the animal, or did not. They do not tell him whether the ribeye is tender, how much marbling it has, or what its protein count is. Those come from genetics, age, feed and the cooler.

Plenty of cattlemen get this backwards and think the claim lifts the product. It lifts the price when a buyer wants the claim. That is a marketing reason, and a fair one, but call it what it is.

What the paperwork looks like

FSIS, the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service, reviews animal-raising claims on meat that crosses state lines. A summary of FSIS guidance from the University of Maryland describes what an applicant typically supplies:

• A written description of the controls that keep the claim valid from birth through harvest.
• A signed, dated description of how the animals were raised.
• A description of how product is traced and kept separate from slaughter through distribution.
• A description of how animals or product that fail the claim are found and separated.
• A current certificate if a third party verifies the claim.

FSIS also tests product that carries these claims. If the lab result conflicts with the label, the plant gets a letter and a deadline to explain. So the statement on the box has to match what you did, and you need records to show it. Read the current FSIS guidance directly, because it gets updated.

The hard cases

The place these programs fall apart is the sick animal. Say you run cattle without antibiotics and a calf comes down with pneumonia. You treat him, because that is what a decent stockman does. That calf no longer qualifies. He needs a tag, a record and a separate route to market. Your plan has to cover that before it happens, not after. Same for bought-in cattle: if you cannot show where they have been and what they were given, they do not qualify.

Ask your processor what they can handle. Segregating a few head through a plant is a headache, and some plants charge for it or refuse. Settle that first.

Where "natural" fits

The word natural on a beef label is a processing term as USDA has long described it: no artificial ingredients and only minimal processing. It says nothing about how you raised the steer. A steer fed in a lot can sit in a package marked natural if the meat has no additives. If you want to talk about raising practices, you need a separate supported claim. Verify with USDA before you print anything.

Where Angus fits

Angus on the label is about genetics and, in a branded program, carcass specs. It stands apart from the process claims. You can have Angus with neither, either or both. For help sorting out label language, read our guide to filling your own freezer, which covers what customers ask and what a processor will do.

Does any of it change the nutrition?

Not much on its face. What does move the needle is feed. The American Society of Animal Science summary of the Beef Nutrient Density Project looked at more than 300 beef samples and found grass-fed beef averaged more omega-3s and some minerals, with plenty of overlap between systems. That is a diet story. Drug-use claims are a different thing, and you should not hand a customer a nutrition promise because you skipped a vaccine or a drug.

Speaking of vaccines, a healthy herd is the best protection for any program. farm.fm's page on preventing common health issues in Angus cattle is a good checklist, and the Beef Quality Assurance program at bqa.org covers practical animal-health habits.

The math before you commit

1. List the added cost: records, tags, segregation, certification, lost animals.
2. Get a written price from the buyer, not a verbal promise.
3. Count what happens to a treated animal. What does he bring on the open market?
4. Decide whether you will treat a sick animal first and sort the paperwork second. You should.

If the numbers work, go in clean and keep the paperwork tight. If they do not, nobody is shamed for selling into the commodity market with a good set of cattle.

Last word

Never let a claim get ahead of your records. Use the USDA grading material at ams.usda.gov to keep your product language straight, and find suppliers and processors on the Agriculture Directory. We are independent and not affiliated with the American Angus Association or Certified Angus Beef, and rules change, so call the agency before you print the label.