Ranchers find success in grass-fed beef

By Hal Clifford, Globe Correspondent, 9/7/2003

HERMOSA, Colo. -- The sleek, fat Angus cattle on the James Ranch graze belly deep in the grass of an irrigated pasture along the Animas River. When David James's border collie herds them close, they smell not like cows, but clover.

In a few days these animals will be slaughtered, their meat sold at premium prices in markets and restaurants around southwestern Colorado and on the Internet to customers as far away as Illinois. Unlike most of the approximately 100 million beef cattle in America, these animals never have tasted corn or any other grain, and never will. James is proud of that.

Like many ranchers, David and Kay James, who have ranched here since 1961, struggled with slowly declining beef prices and rising costs. Casting about for a more successful way to make a living, they chose in the mid-1990s to create and sell a premium product, rather than a low-priced commodity. That meant opting out of the modern method of raising beef, which entails selling calves at relatively low prices to feedlots.

"We had to figure out an efficient way to convert grass," James, 63, says from beneath his cowboy hat as he leans against a white-painted fence rail. "We wanted to stay on the land, and if you're going to stay on the land you can't have the inputs associated with modern agriculture."

The vast majority of the 25 billion pounds of beef produced in the United States each year comes from cattle who spend the last several months of their lives penned in feedlots. There they are fed large rations of grain, usually corn, along with antibiotics and other substances. The result is an animal that is ready for slaughter at 18 months and whose meat has a relatively high percentage of fat.

The Jameses, however, found themselves among a growing cadre of ranchers who produce a food that seems to be catching on with growing numbers of ranchers and consumers: grass-finished beef. They raise their animals organically, on grass and forage, and they cut out feedlots, truckers, and wholesalers by selling directly to consumers or retailers.

Most grass-fed animals are raised under organic standards. No pesticides or herbicides are used on their feed, and they are raised with minimal or no antibiotics. Many ranchers raising these animals describe themselves as "grass farmers."

Proponents say grass-finished beef is significantly healthier than corn-finished beef, containing less fat, pesticides, herbicides (these are sometimes found in feedlot rations), and antibiotics, and more omega-3 fatty acids and conjugated linoleic acid, which are beneficial fatty acids that may help reduce the risk of heart attacks.

Although grass-finished beef does contain more of these fatty acids, the differences are miniscule, cautions Sheah Rarback, a registered dietitian on the faculty of the University of Miami School of Medicine. "We're talking about small increases," she says, adding that beef is not a good source of these nutrients.

Raising cattle this way is a lot of work. To keep their 2,500 acres of irrigated pasture and 220,000 acres of leased federal rangeland healthy, the James family and their employees herd their cattle, moving them every day. This practice tends to replicate the way bison once moved over the Western landscape. It prevents animals from overgrazing any one area.

According to the website Eatwild.com, more than a dozen ranches sell grass-finished beef in Colorado. Most ship anywhere in the country by overnight delivery, but almost every state has farmers who offer products similar to the James Ranch. In Massachusetts there are two; New Hampshire has one and Vermont five. Distribution is a major problem for grass-finished beef producers. Most is sold directly to consumers on ranches or at farmers' markets. Some finds its way into local grocery stores. In nearby Durango, ground organic and nonorganic beef sells for $4.19 a pound in one market; the James Ranch prices its ground meat at $4, but the Jameses get a much higher percentage of that than a typical rancher would.

Perhaps more significant for consumers, grass-finished beef tastes different. "It has a definite beef taste," says Kay James, 61. "To some people that are used to Kansas City fat beef, which has almost a sweet taste, it's a real change."

Chad Scothorn, chef at the Cosmopolitan Restaurant in the nearby resort town of Telluride, says he likes grass-finished beef but has trouble selling it: "Americans are conditioned to a grain-fed animal."

He likens grass-finished beef to Argentine beef, and says that while such lower-fat meats do well when braised, stewed or marinated, in some cases "you can cook a pot roast for days and it just won't get tender." But he adds that a number of suppliers are now producing more tender grass-finished beef, and he is optimistic that more people will demand it.