What are the Differences in How Organic Cows Are Fed vs. Regular Cows?

This is a question many of us have asked, but it has become increasingly more relevant in today’s health-conscious society.  We are being told that the organic method of agriculture and animal husbandry has advantages for our health and also for our environment.  Because we want our world to last long enough for our children to enjoy it, and we would like to be healthy enough to play with our great grandchildren, we follow this trend without question—but we have questions.

Some of these questions are of a moral and ethical nature, others are more technical; each of them, no matter how insignificant they may seem, need to be answered before we can move forward in a positive manner.  So what are the differences in how organic cattle are fed versus regular livestock?

Let’s start with the regular cows that you would either see every day in the pasture across from your house or you would never see as it is grown assembly-line style in huge complexes before they are sent off to be slaughtered for your table.  Most cattle live in two worlds that they travel between every year for the extent of their bovine existence.

The first segment of the cow’s year isn’t really first as the separate parts are cyclic, but just for argument’s sake, we will refer to the Summer Feeding as first.  In the summer season, there is typically sun and plant growth combined with temperate weather, so the ranchers and/or farmers raising cattle, whether there be one cow or one thousand, will let the bovines out to the pasture where they can consume the grasses that grow freely from the ground.

At this point, you should be aware that there are two styles of feeding cattle that get listed on the packages of meat that you purchase from your local butcher shop.  You have seen ’100% grass fed’ and ’100% grain fed’.  Their definitions are fairly straightforward, and affect how they are fed during the summer and winter.  Typically cattle will be fed grass during the summer and feedstock in the winter.  Regular cattle also receive hormones and are fed antibiotics as they are raised in massive groups that are highly susceptible to disease and since they are genetically similar enough to be extended family, if disease takes one animal out, it can take them all.

During the winter, cattle are typically given feed, but can be fed grass.  Regular cattle also continue to receive hormone injections and antibiotic treatments.  Regular cattle will also be exposed to pesticides and herbicides in the grass they consume.  The feed given to regular cattle also has preservatives and additives such as hormones.

Now let’s look at the other side of the spectrum.  The area we all know as organic is a ‘loaded’ title as it can change from one moment to the next depending on the regulating body responsible for legislating its production and distribution.  If you were to take the word organic at face value, you would think that the cattle adopted into this method of feeding would only be given grass that has not got any trace of manmade chemicals, such as pesticides and herbicides, or has any sign of being genetically altered.  This, however much we want to think it is true, it just is not true.

There are many shades of gray involved in the definition of organic and how certain products and foods are labeled as such.  As an example, if you had been raising a few head of cattle for the last twenty years, but you have been doing it in a manner befitting your father and his father.  You see the new niche that would benefit a boutique ranch such as yours, but you do not know if you would pass inspection so you too could sell your meat to the local grocer and make an actual profit for your hard efforts.

According to one governing body, known as the Food and Drug Administration, an organic facility raising cattle and hoping to graze them on their own property only has to ensure that the grass being fed to the animals has not be genetically altered and has not been treated with pesticides and herbicides in the previous three years to application for organic status.  The other option of using feed is still an option for the organic cattle rancher.  It only has to be verified that the feed used for cattle consumption has not been given any additives, does not contain genetically altered material, and contains one hundred percent organic materials.

So now you know the differences in how a regular cow is fed throughout the year and how an organic cow is treated with food during its life cycle.  It is a small mystery, but an important one to solve and now you have more knowledge about that issue.  Having this knowledge, you can make more informed choices in the future.