1. Is there something wrong with the beef and dairy products most Americans consume?
2. People have been talking about the benefits of grass-fed products for some time. What's new about Greener Pastures?
3. Are you suggesting that beef and milk producers go back to the old-fashioned way of raising animals?
4. You say that pasture production is more profitable. So why aren't more farmers raising cattle on grass?
5. How do the fatty acid levels in grass-fed beef and milk compare with levels found in other foods, such as fish?
6. I'm confused about labels. Are pasture-raised products the same as organic or natural foods?
7. I've heard that grass-fed beef has a distinctive texture and taste and is less tender than grain-fed beef. Do consumers like grass-fed beef?
8. Why is it hard to find grass-fed beef and milk in stores?
9. Where can consumers buy grass-fed beef and milk?
10. What are the environmental benefits of pasture-based systems?
11. Where is the increased pastureland needed to produce grass-fed beef and dairy going to come from?
12. Hasn't grazing in the western United States done a lot of damage to the land?

1. Is there something wrong with the beef and dairy products most Americans consume?

There is nothing wrong with the beef and dairy per se. Consumed in moderation, beef and milk are safe and nutritious foods. But the way the vast majority of beef and dairy cattle are raised in the United States poses big problems for the environment, human health, and animal health. For example, animals confined in feedlots are fed large amounts of corn and other grains, not their natural feed, and often develop health problems. Feedlot cattle are routinely fed antibiotics, and this practice is contributing to the development of antibiotic resistance in humans. Feedlots generate enormous quantities of manure that contribute to air and water pollution. Dairy feedlots in the San Joaquin Valley in California are a bigger source of certain air pollutants than cars.

2. People have been talking about the benefits of grass-fed products for some time. What's new about Greener Pastures?

Greener Pastures is the first report to:

• Review the environmental, animal health, and nutrition benefits of pasture-raised beef and milk.
• Conduct a comprehensive analysis of all the studies in English that compared the amounts of several nutritionally important fats in conventional and grass-fed beef and milk.
• Compile and summarize the levels of fats in 25 studies comparing fats in products from conventionally raised and grass-fed cattle.
• Calculate amounts of fats on a per-serving basis that allows analysis of the potential for labeling and advertising claims.

3. Are you suggesting that beef and milk producers go back to the old-fashioned way of raising animals?

No, not at all. For most of history, beef and dairy cattle grazed on pastures, so in that sense raising grass-fed beef and dairy cattle follows in that tradition. The sophisticated techniques employed by modern pasture-based farms, however, are anything but old-fashioned. New rotational management methods, better genetics, and new understandings of pasture enhancement, animal nutrition, meat quality, and marketing are all components of today's grass-fed farm operations. Such farms already produce healthy, productive animals. With more research support from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and others, they will become even better.

4. You say that pasture production is more profitable. So why aren't more farmers raising cattle on grass?

Many are, but grass-fed beef and dairy farms are a relatively new phenomenon in the United States, and changing the way cattle are produced, slaughtered, and distributed can be a challenge. Grazing cows requires a different skill set and more management and marketing than raising them in confinement. Furthermore, producers of grass-fed animals have not received enough support from the USDA research establishment, which gives most of its attention to conventional systems. Also, as with most start-up enterprises, there are few economies of scale, and in the case of small-scale alternative meat production, there are special difficulties in finding slaughtering facilities. Yet as these hurdles are being overcome, more and more producers are making the change and finding that lower input costs and premium prices can mean higher incomes.

5. How do the fatty acid levels in grass-fed beef and milk compare with levels found in other foods, such as fish?

On a per serving basis, they tend to be lower. For example, the average amount of the omega-3 fatty acids EPA/DHA in a serving of wild salmon is about 1,400 mg, while in our study the average amount of EPA/DHA in a serving of grass-fed steak is about 35 mg (the highest value was 70 mg per serving). Conventional steak had only 18 mg per serving of EPA/DHA. The average amount of the omega-3 fatty acid ALA in a glass of pasture-raised milk is about 80 mg (with one sample at 155 mg). By comparison, a tablespoon of flaxseed has about 2,170 mg and a teaspoon of canola oil has about 435 mg of ALA per serving. Conventional milk has 55 mg of ALA. Nutrition science is complex, and more research is needed on how these fatty acids work and what levels are needed in the diet to produce various health benefits.

6. I'm confused about labels. Are pasture-raised products the same as organic or natural foods?

No. These terms are different from grass-fed (and somewhat confusing). Although the formal USDA standard for "natural" meats refers only to minimal processing and the absence of additives, the natural label is now widely used by meat producers to mean raised without antibiotics and hormones. In either case, the natural label does NOT mean that cattle were grass-fed. Many natural cattle are fed in feedlots, although often in lower numbers and with other amenities not found in conventional feedlots. On the other hand, virtually all grass-fed cattle are also raised without antibiotics and hormones, and could be sold as natural beef.

Organic is a federally certified label available for both meat and milk. Both organic dairy and organic beef cattle must be raised under a comprehensive set of standards established by the USDA. These standards require, among other things, that the corn or other grain fed the animals be organically grown, but they do NOT require that animals be grass-fed. In the case of the organic dairy standards, cows must have "access to pasture," a term that is currently a matter of hot debate. The most stringent interpretation of the pasture-access requirement would require that animals be on pasture only 120 days a year. Under the loosest interpretations, animals could be given only token access to pasture but still qualify for the organic label.

There are no government standards for the terms grass-fed and pasture-raised, although the USDA proposed standards for these and several other terms used in animal production in 2002. The American Grassfed Association has recently adopted standards for its members that defines grassfed as an animal that has received only plant materials (no grain) and mothers' milk, without confinement, as its food source over its entire life. Grass-fed is usually used in the research literature to describe beef. Pasture-raised is a term frequently used to describe dairy cattle and products, and loosely, means cattle have had access to pasture and have not been confined in feedlots.

7. I've heard that grass-fed beef has a distinctive texture and taste and is less tender than grain-fed beef. Do consumers like grass-fed beef?

Grass-fed beef does have a somewhat different taste and texture than grain-fed beef. Taste is a subjective characteristic, and many people, including chefs, prefer the taste of grass-fed beef. Grass-fed beef is generally less tender because of the genetics or age of animals, or because it has not been properly handled after slaughter. Cooking grass-fed beef for either very short or very long times can enhance its flavor and texture. For more information, see http://stockmangrassfarmer.net.

8. Why is it hard to find grass-fed beef and milk in stores?

There are currently not enough grass-fed beef or dairy producers to meet demand. Grocery stores want products year-round, yet grass-fed products (especially beef unless it is frozen) are seasonal and not regularly available to stores and customers. Retail grocery stores also want the quality of beef to be consistent, but it can vary over time as producers work to improve their production methods.

9. Where can consumers buy grass-fed beef and milk?

Because it's a fledgling industry, you usually can't find these products in the large chain supermarkets. Milk products can often be found at co-ops or grocery stores like Whole Foods. Grass-fed beef can be found in some supermarkets, at farmers' markets, on the Internet, and from local producers. The American Grassfed Association maintains a list of producers at www.americangrassfed.org.

10. What are the environmental benefits of pasture-based systems?

The potential benefits of carefully managed grazing utilizing permanent pastures are:

• A reduction in heat-trapping gases that contribute to global warming.
• Decreased fuel use.
• Decreased soil erosion.
• Improved water quality.
• Reduced fish kill.
• Restoration of wildlife habitats.
• Improved air quality.
• Reduction of antibiotic residues in water supplies.
• Improved biodiversity.

This is an area that needs more research and we encourage public and private institutions to fund appropriate studies.

11. Where is the increased pastureland needed to produce grass-fed beef and dairy going to come from?

How best to use the nation’s agricultural and range land has long been a complicated question, and it is likely to be even more so in the future. For the time being, the land use implications of grass-fed beef and dairying are not pressing questions because the number of grass-fed beef operations is small in relation to the available land. But as the demand for grass-fed beef and dairy increase, there will be growing interest in acquiring or converting land to pasture.

In general, well-managed grass-fed beef and dairy operations are good ways to use agricultural and range land in the United States and UCS believes that grass-based livestock operations deserve a prominent role in the mix of future U.S. agricultural land uses.

It is way too early to predict where exactly the new pasture land will come from. We note, however, that the United States currently devotes 70 to 80 million acres of land to the production of corn, much of which is fed to animals. A move to pasture-raised cattle would free up some of that land and several studies have shown that rotational grazing of cattle can yield a better economic return to farmers than corn production. In addition to the economic benefits, the switch to grazing could reduce the environmental consequences of corn production such as soil erosion, water pollution, and eutrophication of downstream aquatic ecosystems. Other sources of pasture might be forests (as in Vermont) or underused lands on the Great Plains.

A shift toward pasture is not the only event poised to affect U.S. land use patterns. The growing interest in energy crops and biofuels could also lead to major changes. In a global economy, the United States cannot isolate itself from the rest of the world. Other countries will also be affected by growing demand for pasture-raised animals and/or alternative sources of energy. Decisions by the United States to import rather than grow biofuels, for example, could relieve pressure to use U.S. land for energy crop production and free up some land for pasture.

In the meantime, many signs point to the benefits of a plant-based diet, containing moderate amounts of meat and milk, as a way to improve human health and balance the amount of land used to produce animals, feed grains, and plant foods such as grains, legumes, oilseeds, fruits and vegetables.

12. Hasn't grazing in the western United States done a lot of damage to the land?

Yes, badly-managed grazing on public and private lands in the arid West has caused a great deal of ecological damage including soil erosion, degraded water quality, destruction of native plants, introduction of exotic weeds, and endangerment of small animal species. However, 90 percent of the beef produced in the United States is raised in areas where it is possible to raise beef on pasture in ways that benefit rather than threaten the environment. We support well-managed pasture systems that enhance soil, water, and wildlife conditions.