HERMOSA, Colo. - The sleek, fat Angus cattle on the James Ranchgraze belly deep in the grass of an irrigated pasture along theAnimas River. When David James's border collie herds them close, theysmell not like cows, but clover.
In a few days these animals will be slaughtered, their meat soldat premium prices in markets and restaurants around southwesternColorado 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 neverwill. James is proud of that.
Like many ranchers, David and Kay James, who have ranched heresince 1961, struggled with slowly declining beef prices and risingcosts. Casting about for a more successful way to make a living, theychose in the mid-1990s to create and sell a premium product, ratherthan a low-priced commodity. That meant opting out of the modernmethod of raising beef, which entails selling calves at relativelylow 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'regoing to stay on the land you can't have the inputs associated withmodern agriculture."
The vast majority of the 25 billion pounds of beef produced in theUnited States each year comes from cattle who spend the last severalmonths of their lives penned in feedlots. There they are fed largerations of grain, usually corn, along with antibiotics and othersubstances. The result is an animal that is ready for slaughter at 18months and whose meat has a relatively high percentage of fat.
The Jameses, however, found themselves among a growing cadre ofranchers who produce a food that seems to be catching on with growingnumbers of ranchers and consumers: grass-finished beef. They raisetheir animals organically, on grass and forage, and they cut outfeedlots, truckers, and wholesalers by selling directly to consumersor retailers.
Most grass-fed animals are raised under organic standards. Nopesticides or herbicides are used on their feed, and they are raisedwith minimal or no antibiotics. Many ranchers raising these animalsdescribe themselves as "grass farmers."
Proponents say grass-finished beef is significantly healthier thancorn-finished beef, containing less fat, pesticides, herbicides(these are sometimes found in feedlot rations), and antibiotics, andmore omega-3 fatty acids and conjugated linoleic acid, which arebeneficial fatty acids that may help reduce the risk of heartattacks.
Although grass-finished beef does contain more of these fattyacids, the differences are miniscule, cautions Sheah Rarback, aregistered dietitian on the faculty of the University of Miami Schoolof Medicine. "We're talking about small increases," she says, addingthat beef is not a good source of these nutrients.
Raising cattle this way is a lot of work. To keep their 2,500acres of irrigated pasture and 220,000 acres of leased federalrangeland healthy, the James family and their employees herd theircattle, moving them every day. This practice tends to replicate theway bison once moved over the Western landscape. It prevents animalsfrom overgrazing any one area.
According to the website Eatwild.com, more than a dozen ranchessell grass-finished beef in Colorado. Most ship anywhere in thecountry by overnight delivery, but almost every state has farmers whooffer products similar to the James Ranch. In Massachusetts there aretwo; 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 onemarket; the James Ranch prices its ground meat at $4, but the Jamesesget a much higher percentage of that than a typical rancher would.
Perhaps more significant for consumers, grass-finished beef tastesdifferent. "It has a definite beef taste," says Kay James, 61. "Tosome people that are used to Kansas City fat beef, which has almost asweet taste, it's a real change."
Chad Scothorn, chef at the Cosmopolitan Restaurant in the nearbyresort town of Telluride, says he likes grass-finished beef but hastrouble selling it: "Americans are conditioned to a grain-fedanimal."
He likens grass-finished beef to Argentine beef, and says thatwhile 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'tget tender." But he adds that a number of suppliers are now producingmore tender grass-finished beef, and he is optimistic that morepeople will demand it.
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