You're all welcome, no problem at all, I like when I can answer people's questions and especially get them deeper into Agriculture, asking where their food comes from, how it's grown, etc. Those are all questions that should be asked and answered. I for one also believe that we should be able to tour more facilities like feedlots, ranches and farms...there are some that are Bio-Secured, meaning that they don't allow just any old joe to come on the property because the general public (even the men delivering grain and other feed to them) can bring in pathogens and bacteria, but you'll find this more often on dairies than other places. I am seeing though that more and more ranches are posting blatantly that they allow visitors, so by all means take your kid along and learn about all of this, it's worth a visit!
For Truthwolf1, you're very right. In any argument I like to acknowledge both sides, because if you only rally for the side you're biased for, you become very narrow-minded and naive...Everyone should have a say, or opinion. Before, yes, many people did not want to know how the slaughter process and everything went, they just wanted to think about it appearing in the supermarket, ready to eat. But nowadays, we've got different groups like Certified Angus Beef and the heavy marketing towards Black Angus, which is not any different than a Red Angus, just a marketing gimmick that kinda blew into something larger. Another thing growing is what I mentioned earlier, Aged & Sourced Beef..you can read about it online, but the group is called AngusSource, and basically they use eartags and records to establish a path from dinner plate to farm...you can find out how old the cow was, how it was treated, where it came from, etc. We do this on our ranch right now, and I think it's a stellar idea. Also, Another little insider bit of info...there are certain regulations that are required to meet C.A.B., but one is that the hide of the cow must be greater than or equal to 51% black...so your "Black Angus" steak may not be 100% Black Angus..could have been red/black or other, but that doesn't affect the meat quality at all. There's even marketing going on now for just Red Angus producers because they want better prices for theirs that they can't get without it meeting C.A.B./Black Angus requirements.
For Sgreger1, well my name was a nickname given to me by one of the college ranches I worked at, because apparently I have a talent for being able to round up and move cattle around on my own, with no horses or other manpower...I guess it's pretty cool hahah.
You're also correct though. If you can strike a balance and conditions are right, you can make a juicy, tasty grass-fed steak. It's still not going to have the fat, juiciness, and tenderness of a grain-fed, but if you spend time trying to match it, well, you can make some damn good grass fed beef. However, you are mentioning burger patties...many of those are ground beef packed into a patty, and if you look at packages of ground beef (like the plastic tubes of it and such), you'll see that the beef comes not just from different farms/ranches, but ALSO different countries, and is usually a significantly lower quality than the major cuts of steak and things like that. So compare that with a burger patty that was from one or multi-grass-fed operations here, and that is going to be a better quality beef than the mixed beef that is so popular for it's many uses. I personally don't like ground beef, and not knowing just where the heck it comes from from those countries doesn't appeal to me either. As far as that goes, I'd be willing to pay a higher price for the more quality choice. But in general, people like the IDEA of grass-fed beef, but later find out it's so tough and less juicy, etc. that they'll stick with grain-fed, or they'll just cope with the new taste and texture in the name of it being leaner=healthier.
I have not heard that about dairy, although I've worked on dairy farms before as well as beef ranches/feedlots. I know on the dairy I was at, we fed them corn silage (chopped up corn and the stalks too) mixed with alfalfa or other hay. I will say though, the person running the dairy consistently ran out of feed for the herd (and had other issues, which led to my quitting there), so because of that the feed rations would be different weekly, and that would violently fluctuate the cow herd's milk production...any little change in their diet will hinder production, so that was a very severe mistake to be doing. Some grasses will allow them more calcium than others (like feeding them lush grass/legumes vs. crappy dry grass, etc), but you also have to consider CA is the highest milk producing state currently (last time I checked at least), and are held to different standards. Take a look at this link and I think it might answer your question regarding that: http://www.dairycouncilofca.org/Milk...s-in-Milk.aspx
Any other questions, feel free to ask me! Thanks for having me on the forum too
For Truthwolf1, you're very right. In any argument I like to acknowledge both sides, because if you only rally for the side you're biased for, you become very narrow-minded and naive...Everyone should have a say, or opinion. Before, yes, many people did not want to know how the slaughter process and everything went, they just wanted to think about it appearing in the supermarket, ready to eat. But nowadays, we've got different groups like Certified Angus Beef and the heavy marketing towards Black Angus, which is not any different than a Red Angus, just a marketing gimmick that kinda blew into something larger. Another thing growing is what I mentioned earlier, Aged & Sourced Beef..you can read about it online, but the group is called AngusSource, and basically they use eartags and records to establish a path from dinner plate to farm...you can find out how old the cow was, how it was treated, where it came from, etc. We do this on our ranch right now, and I think it's a stellar idea. Also, Another little insider bit of info...there are certain regulations that are required to meet C.A.B., but one is that the hide of the cow must be greater than or equal to 51% black...so your "Black Angus" steak may not be 100% Black Angus..could have been red/black or other, but that doesn't affect the meat quality at all. There's even marketing going on now for just Red Angus producers because they want better prices for theirs that they can't get without it meeting C.A.B./Black Angus requirements.
For Sgreger1, well my name was a nickname given to me by one of the college ranches I worked at, because apparently I have a talent for being able to round up and move cattle around on my own, with no horses or other manpower...I guess it's pretty cool hahah.
You're also correct though. If you can strike a balance and conditions are right, you can make a juicy, tasty grass-fed steak. It's still not going to have the fat, juiciness, and tenderness of a grain-fed, but if you spend time trying to match it, well, you can make some damn good grass fed beef. However, you are mentioning burger patties...many of those are ground beef packed into a patty, and if you look at packages of ground beef (like the plastic tubes of it and such), you'll see that the beef comes not just from different farms/ranches, but ALSO different countries, and is usually a significantly lower quality than the major cuts of steak and things like that. So compare that with a burger patty that was from one or multi-grass-fed operations here, and that is going to be a better quality beef than the mixed beef that is so popular for it's many uses. I personally don't like ground beef, and not knowing just where the heck it comes from from those countries doesn't appeal to me either. As far as that goes, I'd be willing to pay a higher price for the more quality choice. But in general, people like the IDEA of grass-fed beef, but later find out it's so tough and less juicy, etc. that they'll stick with grain-fed, or they'll just cope with the new taste and texture in the name of it being leaner=healthier.
I have not heard that about dairy, although I've worked on dairy farms before as well as beef ranches/feedlots. I know on the dairy I was at, we fed them corn silage (chopped up corn and the stalks too) mixed with alfalfa or other hay. I will say though, the person running the dairy consistently ran out of feed for the herd (and had other issues, which led to my quitting there), so because of that the feed rations would be different weekly, and that would violently fluctuate the cow herd's milk production...any little change in their diet will hinder production, so that was a very severe mistake to be doing. Some grasses will allow them more calcium than others (like feeding them lush grass/legumes vs. crappy dry grass, etc), but you also have to consider CA is the highest milk producing state currently (last time I checked at least), and are held to different standards. Take a look at this link and I think it might answer your question regarding that: http://www.dairycouncilofca.org/Milk...s-in-Milk.aspx
Any other questions, feel free to ask me! Thanks for having me on the forum too
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