Grass
versus corn matters to cow
Grass-fed, corn-fed, grainfinished….
does it really matter? For the cow it does.
Cows have an amazing ability to
digest grass — a plant devoid of nutrition to humans — and turn it into
protein. The reason cows can do this and humans cannot, is the difference in
our digestive systems.
Cows — as well as goats, sheep,
giraffes, bison, moose, elk, yaks, water buffalo, deer, camels, alpacas,
llamas, and antelope — are ruminants which means they have a four-compartment
stomach.
Ruminants digest plant-based food by
initially processing it in the first compartment of the stomach with bacteria,
then regurgitating the semi-digested food (known as cud) and chewing it again
to further break down the plant matter. Sounds yummy!
Although the USDA grades corn-fed
beef in its highest “Prime” category, corn is in no way a “prime” cuisine for
cattle. Feeding corn to cattle is harmful to their health because as a ruminant
they are not biologically designed to eat grain and therefore become extremely
ill.
A ruminant’s stomach is intended to
act as a fermentation tank for grass, but when fed corn the stomach’s lining
develops a slime which keeps the gaseous byproduct from escaping. This causes
the stomach to expand like a balloon, pressing on the cow’s heart and lungs,
eventually suffocating the animal.
To combat a corn-fed cow’s ailments,
which will imminently lead to death in approximately six months, ranchers feed
them antibiotics. The effects of feeding antibiotics to animals, which
ultimately are ingested by humans, is a whole other can of worms … or more
appropriately ailments.
So the question arises, if ranchers
know that corn is not ideal for cattle, in fact it is killing them, why would
they continue feeding corn? Economics, of course.
Corn is the cheapest, most convenient
feed to give cattle. In the United States, corn is cheaper to buy than to grow
because the government provides subsidies to farmers — with your tax dollars —
to grow corn at a loss. This surplus of corn on the market makes it an
inexpensive feed choice for ranchers despite its ill-effects on the animal.
In addition, corn packs a punch in
terms of food value. Cattle being raised on corn would be equivalent to humans
living on ice cream.
After weaning, a cow will begin
eating corn and grow astronomically from 80 pounds to 600 pounds within months.
Sometimes even pasture-raised cattle are “grain-finished” to increase their marbling
and gain some last minute weight before slaughter. Between its cheap cost and
the quickly fattened calf, ranchers have begun to rely on corn as the main feed
for cattle in the United States.
The introduction of corn into a cow’s
diet has also reformed beef production. When cows were raised on pasture, feed
lots didn’t exist. The stocking rate (number of animals per acre) of cattle can
be drastically increased in a corn-fed versus grass-fed system.
Despite the animals’ poor diet, feed
lots create an inhumane environment for cattle and threaten the health of other
animals, humans, and nature... which is another article entirely.
The good news is that you can create
healthy, happy cows in Ellensburg by supporting grass-fed beef production!
There are numerous places you can purchase locally raised grass-fed beef
including the Ellensburg Food Co-op, Kittitas County Farmer’s Market,
localharvest. com, eatwild.com , and
occasionally craigslist.org.
Ask your local restaurant if they are
buying grass-fed beef.
Stacey Engel operates Fuzzy Rhino
Organic Farm in Ellensburg.
