How Much Beef in Australia Is Grass Fed
Upstanding Meat in Australia: Organic vs Grass Fed vs Grain Fed Beef
If you lot google organic vs grass fed vs grain fed beef, y'all'll detect a heap of articles from the US. You'll as well detect lots of scare manufactures from 'wellness' sites and paleo sites well-nigh why you lot should but eat grass fed or organic beef. But what about beef in Commonwealth of australia? Should we be concerned almost grain fed or grass fed, or should we only exist buying organic?
A few years ago, my hubby and I were living in a rural surface area of Australia, and we got to know a few cattle farmers. I remember 1 of them telling me that he's quite happy to purchase beefiness from the supermarket, because Australian beefiness is so good. He reckoned that the only reason he'd buy beef from a butcher is if he wanted it aged a bit more.
At present that I've researched Australian beefiness standards, I'd have to concur with him. Beef in Australia is amongst the best, if not the best, in the world. Nosotros have incredibly high standards for the health and welfare of our beef cattle. Australia too has a national tracking organisation (NLIS) that means every unmarried animal's motility is tracked through the whole of its life. If yous're eating cherry-red meat in Commonwealth of australia, you definitely practice not need to worry most the quality or safety of it.
That'south not e'er the instance in other countries. Only before we get on to that, permit'due south have a look at what grain fed, grass fed and organic beef actually means.
What is grain fed beef?
Cattle in Commonwealth of australia have to be fed grain for more than lx days earlier they're classified as grain fed.
Grass fed beef comes from beef cattle raised in pastures, rather than on feed lots. In Australia, 97% of sheep and cattle are grass fed at whatsoever one time. Grass fed cattle can nonetheless be fed grain, but this unremarkably only happens if the pasture is poor and their feed needs supplementing. Information technology's more than expensive for farmers to feed cattle grain, and in Commonwealth of australia, we're lucky to have lots of good grazing land.
However, grass fed beef has yellower fatty, and some markets prefer whiter fat, then these cattle are 'grain finished'. Other markets prefer their cattle to be grain fed. Every bit an example, Wagyu beef is grain fed.
There'south a big difference betwixt the way that cattle are raised in Australia from the way that cattle are raised in the US. There'southward a great explanation of the differences betwixt Australian and U.s. feedlots here.
I of the major differences is that Australian grain fed cattle spend 85-90% of their lives in pastures. No cattle in Australia spend their whole lives in a feedlot. US grain fed cattle are also fed primarily on corn, whereas hither they consume mainly wheat, barley or sorghum.
What does grass fed actually hateful?
Cattle can be certified grass fed by PCAS (Pasturefed Cattle Assurance System). PCAS Certified grass fed cattle tin never be fed grains. They must be grass fed their whole lives.
If yous want to buy grass fed beef that'south never been grain fed, you need to await for the PCAS certification. You can now buy grass fed beefiness in supermarkets. Coles, Woolworths and Aldi have all recognised that customers volition pay a premium for grass fed beef.
Coles introduced their own grass fed standards, which they say are based on PCAS standards. Their standards do say that there are no grain products immune to be fed to cattle. I'yard non sure why they don't just employ PCAS certification so that it's clearer for consumers, but and then that's ane of the reasons that I don't shop at supermarkets.
Aldi's grass fed beef meets Meat Standards Australia's quality standards, just these standards permit grain supplementing if pastures are poor. Which makes it the aforementioned as any other beef in Australia. Then while information technology's good meat, information technology's non worth the extra coin that you're paying for something that says 'grass fed'. At that place take been a few manufactures in the newspapers proverb that Aldi is misleading consumers with information technology's grass fed claims.
As always, the answer is to expect for certification if 100% grass fed is important to you lot.
What is organic beef in Australia?
There'southward no single standard for organic meat in Australia, but there are a number of certified organic producers. Similar grass fed, anyone can claim that their meat is organic, and then to truly know what you lot're getting, you need to look out for one of the certified organic logos. ACO is i of the most recognisable.
More often than not speaking, organic meat is grown and produced without synthetic fertilisers, pesticides, growth hormones or antibiotics. Farming standards include ways of protecting soil, air and water quality, as well as working to protect natural habitats. Animals have to be free range, and take access to pastures and pesticide free and GMO gratis food for their whole lives.
Animals are treated ethically, from ensuring that they live in a natural social environment, and their full general welfare, to the way that they are transported to abbatoirs. Organic meats also have to exist processed without synthetic colours, flavours, preservatives etc.
Organic is the best of the best when it comes to animal welfare and what the animal is being fed on, likewise as what they're being supplemented with.
But if yous're on a budget, and you're wondering what y'all should be buying organic, I'd take to fence that beefiness shouldn't be a priority. I'll be posting once more soon about chicken, and my gut feeling is that chicken is one meat that you should always be buying organic. Stay tuned!
Exercise yous get out of your way to purchase grass fed or organic beef? What'due south your opinion?
Paradigm By Ryan Thompson on Flickr/U.South. Department of Agriculture
Source: https://www.hellonaturalliving.com/ethical-beef-grain-fed-grass-fed-and-organic/
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