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Beef
Why Do We Produce Beef?

by Dr. John Comerford

Many beef producers in the mid-Atlantic and Northeast produce beef from small, specialized herds. This includes novelty breeds, grass-fed beef, naturally raised beef, local sales and marketing, freezer beef sales and organic production. It is important these beef producers are a part of the collective beef industry. In many cases, they are selling beef to people who would not buy beef from any other source. However, sometimes we need to stop and ask ourselves just what is the purpose of producing our beef? The lost element in all of this is often the consumer. We like our own breed; we like our own method of production; we, like our farm, are often the drivers for the beef enterprise. What we have to recognize is that the normal beef consumer could care less about these things. “The reason people buy beef is because they like it,” is a statement I heard many years ago, and it is still true today.

The grass-fed beef enterprise is a particular example. For many years, producers, marketers and retailers of grass-fed beef touted human health benefits, environmental benefits, specific breeds and other items. There were no unbiased scientific studies to dispute or to validate these statements. Some of those studies have now been done, and the results are as follows:

1. There is no evidence that grass-fed beef has any benefit to human health other than the common protein, iron and B-vitamin advantage of any beef.
2. There is no difference in the CLA content of grain or grass-fed beef in cooked beef (Duckett and Pavan, 2007). All of the numbers that have been thrown around about CLA content was in raw beef. Most people do not eat raw beef, or did we all just conveniently forget this? The recent study by Daley et al (2010) got a lot of press about the “advantage” of the nutrient content in grass-fed beef. However, on a closer look, one would find all of the data presented was in raw meat, and it had little to do with the nutrients people actually eat. The original CLA study (Ha et al, 1987) used a dosage of CLA in mice that was 181,000 times higher than the amount in 3 ounces of raw grass-fed beef, and 16 of the 20 treated mice still got tumors. What value does the CLA content of cooked grass-fed beef have in the human diet? None. Close examination of the amounts of Omega-6 fats, beta-carotene and Vitamin D in cooked grass-fed beef are insignificant to the human diet as well.
3. There is no difference in the cholesterol content of grain and grass-fed beef and there never was (Duckett, 2006: Pavan and Duckett, 2006). The implication is still out there that cholesterol follows fat; it does not. One of the meats with the highest levels of cholesterol is venison.
4. The studies are continuing about the environmental impact of grass and grain-based livestock production. The results are not impressive so far for grass-based beef production (Yan et al, 2009; Agriculture Canada, 2009). Specifically, greenhouse gas emissions are particularly troubling for grass-based livestock production. This is nature at work, and is not a matter of conjecture.
5. Consumer studies show there is no advantage for frame size, final fat thickness, marbling (low Select to low Choice) or final weight for grass-fed beef harvested at 17 months of age (Steinberg, 2008). All beef from the cattle was deemed acceptable by consumer panels. No studies have compared beef breeds for grass-fed beef production, so any advantage for a breed is purely speculative except for any marketing advantage labeling beef from Angus cattle.
6. E. coli contamination of meat does not happen on a farm. It occurs in a processing plant. It can come from a worker’s hands, a knife, water splash and many other ways, so distinguishing the source from a single carcass is very difficult. There is now evidence to show there are OH-157 E. coli present in grass-based environments as often as in concentrated environments.

After stating this heresy to many producers and marketers, where do we go from here? We pay attention to the studies that determine why people buy beef. The data show the first priority for people to buy beef is to have a superior eating experience. The huge advantage many northeastern producers have is we can also tap into the features of locally produced and source-verified food. Next month we will continue this discussion and explore how production and management can address consumer purchases of beef.

Dr. John Comerford is associate professor of dairy and animal science at the Pennsylvania State University. Comment or question? Visit www.farmingforumsite.com and join in the discussions.