Grass-fed
Grass-fed refers to the diet of ruminants, mainly cattle and sheep, who eat grass, forage, or similar roughage instead of grain-based feed for all or most of their lives.
Grass-fed Defined
The definition varies from country to country, when it is defined at all, so in some places "grass-fed" could mean the animal ate grass early in life but was finished on grain. "Grass-finished" indicates the animal never consumed grain.
All ruminants naturally eat grass. Once weaned, true grass-fed beef and lamb spend their entire lives on pasture, consuming a diet of only grass and forage. They are not fed grains for fattening and are never in feedlots.
But not all grass-fed meat is raised the same, as legendary meat-master Aaron Franklin has pointed out. He believes exceptional grass-fed beef is the best meat for steaks, but only if it’s raised properly. When grass-fed beef is poorly raised, it often tastes tough and unpleasant. He advocates sourcing exclusively from highly specialized producers experienced in pasture management who practice ethical animal welfare standards.
Here’s what makes the difference in the eating quality of grass-fed beef:
- Genetics: Certain breeds have genetics that predispose them to develop marbling on a forage-only diet. Black Angus, for example, excel at developing internal intramuscular fat without needing grain.
- Pasture Raising: Moving cattle frequently to fresh sections of pasture, called rotational grazing, allows the grass to regenerate. It’s one way to ensure they are always eating nutrient-dense grass and forage. In more temperate areas of the world, cattle are able to graze on pasture year-round, which is ideal for raising the highest quality grass-fed beef.
- Natural Growth Operations: Cattle who live a stress-free life on pasture and are allowed to mature and reach optimal weight over their lifespan are healthier animals, which eliminates the need for growth hormones and antibiotics.
- Humane Handling Throughout: A stressed animal produces adrenaline that can affect the tenderness and taste of the meat. The best producers practice humane animal handling right up to and including slaughter, employing techniques designed by animal welfare authority Dr. Temple Grandin to reduce stress.
Marx Foodservice sources grass-fed beef and lamb from regions where a mild climate allows year-round pasture grazing and abundant rainfall produces the lush, nutritious grasses and other forage required for raising the best-tasting grass-fed meats.
Silver Fern Farms Angus Beef and Ovation Lamb are grass-fed and finished in New Zealand. Bass Strait Beef and Galician-style Vintage Beef are pasture-raised in Southern Australia and Tasmania. In both countries, year-round grazing on pasture is the norm, and farmers have been raising livestock for generations, innovating and improving their methods over time.
Irish Nature Beef is raised on some 8,000 small farms across Ireland, which also has a temperate climate with lots of rainfall. Irish Nature Beef graze on pasture for all but a few of the wettest months. Grains augment their feed year-round, but they are never in feedlots.
Teifi Valley Lamb comes from small farms in Wales, where non-intensive husbandry methods, generations of breeding expertise, and optimized grassland management results in the highest quality meat produced with a very low carbon footprint. New Zealand, Australia, and Ireland all have strong regulations covering use of the term grass-fed.
| Country | Key Regulatory Standard / Body |
Strictness & Core Requirements |
|---|---|---|
| Australia |
Pasturefed Cattle Assurance System (PCAS) |
Highly regulated. Cattle must eat on pasture their entire lives, have lifetime traceability via the National Livestock Identification System (NLIS), and cannot be confined for intensive feeding. Optional modules certify the herd as free from antibiotics and Hormonal Growth Promotants (HGPs). |
| New Zealand |
The New Zealand Grass-Fed Standard |
Strictly audited by state-approved agencies. Animals must have roaming pasture access 365 days a year. At least 96% of their lifetime diet must consist of grass, silage, or forage, ensuring a virtually grain-free lifecycle. |
| Ireland | Bord Bia Grass Fed Standard | This state-backed program uses an automated calculator to track herd data. To qualify for the official Irish Grass Fed logo, an animal's diet must be at least 90% grass or forage on a fresh-weight basis, and the animal must spend a minimum of 220 days per year grazing outdoors on open pasture. |
Neither the UK nor the U.S. formally define the term "grass-fed." In 2016, the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) officially withdrew its standard definition for grass-fed meat, after concluding it lacked statutory authority to police commercial marketing claims. If a company wants to put "100% Grass-Fed" on its label in the U.S., it must submit internal paperwork to the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) proving its claim. The USDA checks the paperwork but does not conduct routine on-site ranch inspections to verify the animal's exact lifetime diet. The USDA Process Verified Program (PVP) provides a voluntary service where a company sets their own standard, then applies to the PVP to have their standard checked by USDA for compliance. The PVP conducts on-site audits annually.
