Grass-Fed Vs Grass-Finished Beef: What Sets Them Apart?

With so many unclear beef labels like grass-fed and grass-finished, it can seem like the people selling you beef are trying to confuse you. It's well known that most conventionally produced "industrial" beef in the U.S. is produced in large feed lots, where cattle are fed a diet that can include grass and hay but is primarily made up of grains like corn. On the other hand, you have the idea of cattle raised on grass, which is supposed to conjure up images of happy cows spending their lives out at pasture — more natural and healthy way to produce your meat. In reality there is a lot of overlap between the two systems, as conventional beef usually spends some of its life at pasture, and beef labels about grass are ambiguous as to what the cows actually consume.

So if you are trying to be conscientious about the beef you are eating, whether for health, animal welfare, or environmental reasons, you are probably gravitating towards cows that eat grass, and that starts with the grass-fed label. But then you see grass-finished, or maybe even both on the same label, and "pasture-raised" could be on there as well. Is one better than the other? Are either grass-fed categories better than conventional beef? It turns out that while "grass-fed" is a regulated term, there is a lot of wiggle room, and "grass-finished" is a way for certain producers to assure customers about how much forage the cow was eating, which is above and beyond most grass-fed labels.

Grass-fed beef was labeled and established by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to mean that grass and forage are the exclusive diet of a cow after it's weaned off of milk. However only grass-fed beef that has a "USDA Process Verified" shield is actually mandated to meet this standard. While the USDA used to be more strict about grass-fed labeling, in 2016, it determined that it didn't have the authority or the ability to verify grass fed claims, so while companies can still apply to be verified, they can use grass-fed terms without verification too. So in reality, grass-fed beef can essentially mean the cow was fed grass for most or only some of it's life, and a lot of cattle is grass-fed and grain-finished. This means the cows spend their early life eating grass, and then spend the last three to six months eating grain to further fatten up and reach the ideal slaughtering weight.

If cows are truly grass-fed, meaning raised entirely on grass, there are several differences in both flavor and nutrition from grain-fed or finished cattle. Because eating grain is not natural to cows, industrial beef is given hormones to help, which impacts the flavor. Grass-fed beef has a more clean and gamey taste than grain-fed. Grass-fed beef is also leaner than normal beef, which can be a good or bad thing depending on how much marbling you want. Nutritionally, grass-fed beef has far more healthy omega-3 acids, and far less monounsaturated fat.

Because of the ambiguity around grass-fed, grass-finished has emerged for more clarification. Grass-finished beef is essentially what the original meaning of grass-fed was: that the animal was raised entirely on grass and forage with no additional grain. Because grass is a natural diet for cows, it eliminates the need for those added hormones. However, there is no regulation around using hormones and antibiotics for grass-finished beef, so your meat could still contain them unless specifically labeled "hormone-free."

It's important to note that beyond the lack of verification, the original grass-fed label never specified where cattle were fed, and many eat grass in pens. While lots of grass-finished cows are from producers trying to make beef as naturally as possible, there is no guarantee that grass-finished cows are actually free-roaming. If you want to be sure of that for animal welfare reasons, there is the pasture raised verification label, which ensures cows are outdoors at least 120 days each year.

Because grass-finished beef is actually raised on a natural diet it should have all of the benefits that grass-fed beef is supposed to have. Beyond the cleaner taste and healthier fat, grass-finished beef is higher in nutrients like Vitamins E and K2 and conjugated linoleic acid, which has been connected to weight loss. On the flip side grass-finished beef also tends to be higher in price. But if you are looking for grass-fed beef, either find some with the true USDA verification label of 100% grass-fed, or stick to grass-finished.