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Title: "Pasture Perfect"

Journal Source: Taylor Made Beef

Link: http://www.taylormadebeef.com/PasturePerfect.pdf

Summary: Cows used to exclusively eat grass until agricultural technology progressed and grain became a cheaper alternative for farmers. After extensive research on the impacts of feeding cattle grains and grass, farmers are flocking back to the "ancient and healthier way of raising animals." One of the primary reasons for this switch is that grain-fed beef has over four times as much fat per serving than grass-fed beef. In addition, grain-fed beef contains significantly less omega-3s than grass-fed beef. The reason for this discrepancy is due to the fact that omega-3 fatty acids are created in the green leaves of plants, which means that grass-fed cows will consume and absorb significantly more omega-3s than their grain-fed counterparts. Scientists at the University of Hawaii have found that steak from grass-fed cattle can have up to six times as many omega-3s as steak from grain-fed cattle. This omega-3 difference can also be found in the milk from the cows. Milk from grass-fed cows has a concentration of omega-3s over three times higher than that of grain-fed cows. When considering all of the benefits that a diet full of omega-3s has been shown to produce, it is easy to see why feeding cattle grass is once again becoming the standard agricultural practice. To top it all off, research from Cornell University has determined that the significant increase in the amount of deadly E. coli food poisoning incidents we have seen lately is due in part to the recent proliferation of grain-fed cattle, who have approximately 300 times more E. coli in their guts than grass-fed cattle.