Grass Finishing: Nutrition and Palatability of Pasture Finished Meats.

Consumer markets for natural, forage-finished meat products are expanding in the U.S.  As a result of this demand, some livestock producers are electing to finish animals on forages and market meat products directly to consumers. Results from our research show that forage-finished beef has a lower total and saturated fat content than beef from grain-finished. Forage-finishing increases the content of fat-soluble and water-soluble vitamins in beef muscle. Forage-finishing also increases concentrations of cis-9 trans-11 conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), a potent anticarcinogen, and all omega-3 fatty acids. However, the forage species utilized for grazing during the finishing period will alter the concentrations of these important fatty acids in the beef muscle. Finishing cattle on legume species, alfalfa and cowpea, increased animal performance, dressing percentage, tenderness and consumer acceptability. Finishing cattle on grass species, bermudagrass and pearl millet, resulted in greater percentages of CLA. Our results show that forage-finished beef has similar tenderness and palatability to grain-finished beef but contains greater concentrations of desirable fatty acids and antioxidants for human health.