It seems that few questions in life have a clear right or wrong answer. Often, questions are tricky and the answer must be hedged and broken down depending on so many different variables that it muddies whatever clarity had been accomplished. Deciding if corn fed or grass fed beef is better is one of those tricky questions.
This question has many variables such as pasture availability, price of corn, price of beef, individual herd characteristics, prospective customers, etc. However, despite the variables and all the possible complications of the question, the answer remains the same. Both systems are good choices and both are essential for America to keep up with a growing worldwide beef demand. Realistically, corn will never be cheap enough to feed cattle to butcher weight exclusively on grain, and cattle genetics and pasture quality will never be good enough to produce the type of carcass consumers want on pasture alone. Backgrounders and feedlots are both indispensible.
Dr. Tom Troxel from the University of Arkansas pointed out that most cattle in the United States spend large portions of their lives on grass. A breeding animal will likely spend its whole life on grass, and most market cattle spend all but the last 180 to 200 days in a pasture. Though cattle are ruminants, and their digestive system is perfectly suited to utilize grass, there is a limit. Kent Abele, owner and manager of the Green Springs Bull Test facility in Nevada, Mo., referred to a “glass ceiling” of around 900 pounds that cattle on feeding grass alone simply can’t break through.
Dr. Troxel and Kent Abele agreed that there is a definite difference between grass fed beef and animals that are finished out on corn. Dr. Troxel said that the fat in a grass fed animal is yellow-colored and is a different consistency than the fat in a fully finished animal. He added that the fat is mostly a marketing issue. However, a growing number of people prefer the idea of eating an animal that has not been through a feedlot and enjoy the different taste that goes along with it.
Kent Abele agreed that a niche market for grass fed beef is growing, and that it is simply a matter of taste. He doesn’t share the belief that grass-fed beef is any “greener” than corn fed beef, but he doesn’t like to get bogged down arguing about the pros and cons. He believes that it is important for beef producers to stay united. Kent said, “As long as people are eating beef, I don’t care if it is grass fed or corn fed.”
Kent believes that efficiency is an important factor for producers to consider. At Green Springs, he runs feed efficiency tests on bulls and heifers so producers can get an estimate of how the next generation will perform. Dr. Troxel said that if producers, especially backgrounders, want to increase gains, then it is best to supplement.
In most applications, the producer does not have to feed exclusively grass or corn. So when trying to answer whether corn fed or grass fed beef is better, the answer is both are best, and neither is wrong.
