Hearts and Lungs

A new study shows that a modest lowering of LDL cholesterol for extended periods has heart benefits.

A new genetic analysis of more than 12,000 individuals has found that a decrease in low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, of as little as 15 percent, sustained over the long term can dramatically reduce the risk of coronary heart disease. The reduction in LDL observed in this study can easily be achieved with a low dose of cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins.

Drugs aren't the only way to lower LDL of course. One of the best known benefits of grass fed beef is that the omega-3 fatty acids and CLA lower LDL cholesterol. In addition, there is a balance of LDL and HDL in grass fed meats that reduce the harm the LDL can do.

Another study shows that beta carotene reduces the effects of aging on lungs.

Beta carotene, a precursor to vitamin A, slows the decline in lung power associated with ageing, reveals research in Thorax.

Beta carotene belongs to a group of antioxidant substances called carotenoids, which give fruits and vegetables their red, yellow, and orange colourings.

It's also what gives the fat in grass fed beef a yellow hue rather than the dead white of grain fed meats. Grass fed beef has twice the beta-carotene of grain fed meats even though it has less fat. There are other advantages to beta-carotene (pro-vitamin A). It is better for health to get pro-vitamin A from the diet than to take vitamin A as a supplement. There can be bone desnity reductions, especially in women, from taking vitamin A, especially in larger doses.

Pasture Myths

One of the dumbest myths I've encountered is that applying nitrogen fertilizer to your fields will kill your clovers, which fix their own nitrogen, and so make you need to apply ever more nitrogen to stay even.

Nitrogen does not kill clovers, but it does make life easier for other pasture species that do not fix their own nitrogen, and so makes them more competitive with clovers. If the pasture is not well managed and those other species, often grasses, are allowed to grow tall and rank they will shade out the shorter clovers. Clovers do need fertilizer but it is phosphorous and potassium that makes them thrive. Other species need these nutrients too so it's always good to correct for deficiencies.

Clovers can give you some good visual indication of soil health without chemical testing. If you have dark green thriving clover stands among stunted yellow grasses then the soil is likely to be nitrogen deficient. In some cases the very existence of clovers is an indication of nitrogen deficiency. If clovers are small or difficult to establish while grasses are doing well then the soil PH is likely lower than clovers prefer. Raising it with lime or bio-char is smart even though the grasses seem happy since it will improve soil chemistry so that existing soil nutrients are better utilized. The effect of raising PH can be similar to applying fertilizer though what it actually does is make existing nutrients more available to the plants.

Clovers can use some nitrogen when they are young to get established, and they prefer to get their nitrogen directly from the soil rather than fixing their own. It is actually rhizobial bacteria that nodulate on their roots that do the nitrogen fixing, but they don't do it for free. They in effect charge the plant, trading nitrates for plant sugars. If clovers can get nitrogen for free then they will keep their sugars for their own use and grow better as a result. This is fine so long as the nitrogen doesn't run out, but if it does there may not be any surviving rhizobia to trade with, leaving the clovers unable to fend for themselves in the wild so to speak. Rhizobia can be directly affected by applied nitrogen since it lowers PH. When PH is already low it can be detrimental to them. This is yet another reason to raise PH toward neutral. Lime and or bio-char seem to stimulate rhizobia (and AMF too!).

The decision for a pasture manager about applying nitrogen or trying to get more nitrogen from clovers is mostly an economic decision. Nitrogen is expensive and getting more so as stocks of natural gas dwindle or are in demand for other uses such as home heating and industrial energy.

Increasing the percentage of clovers in pastures can increase nitrogen but they aren't free either. Clover seed is expensive and often does not persist from year to year. There is labor involved in seeding too. Clover isn't as productive of dry matter as grasses so there is a drop in total pasture productivity as clover percentage increases. But, clovers have high protein levels and improve the quality of some pastures.

Usually total production drops as clover percentage increases and so stocking rates must be lowered. This may be a good trade off if land is cheap. It takes more land to handle an equivalent stocking rate. But this is often not the case when everything from taxes to fencing to water systems to labor and fuel are considered.

There's no pat answer. Each manager needs to sharpen his pencil, get accurate information and do cost benefit analysis. There are many variables to consider, even some odd ones such as the moderating effect clovers can have when animals are grazing endophyte infected fescue. The toxic effects are lowered, which can increase animal performance. If nothing else their consumption might rise since clovers are very palatable - pasture candy - while fescues can be bitter and coarse.

Variable Stocking

To manage pasture for maximum production and nutrition, and so make more and better beef, the animals' needs must be matched to the pasture's needs. There are three ways to do this.

1. Move stock on and off pasture as needed to assure that every animal is full and all the pasture is eaten. Vary the stocking rate to achieve proper grazing intensity for pasture health.
   
   
2. Feed stored forage on pasture as needed to substitute for pasture when it isn't available in sufficient quantity to satisfy the needs of a fixed stocking rate, and so avoid over grazing the pasture and hurting future production. The stocking rate would be high enough to consume maximum pasture production.
   
   
3. Clip excess pasture and either store it for later or just leave it as mulch. It can be stored as hay bales, baleage or silage - all of which take significant amounts of equipment, good timing and good luck.
   

The easiest and perhaps the best choice is #2 - feed out stored forage bought in from outside. It takes less equipment, is more controllable and predictable, and is a form of imported fertility that enhances pastures. But it is a bought input that adds costs to production that may at times exceed the benefit in beef gains. When you do full accounting and consider the costs of alternatives as well as the benefit to pastures it is always profitable to do so long as you don't have to pay labor costs to feed it out.

Some clipping to clean up refusal areas will always be needed. The animals can be allowed to high grade paddocks a little - which increases clipping a bit - in times of slight excess. In other words the stocking rate could be a little below maximum prodcution needs and make up the slack with a little clipping.

In a way, raising steers for beef has a built in variable stocking aspect since their consumption rises with their weight. If they eat 3% of body weight a day then they will eat a lot more at 750# than they did at 500#. Considering the growing need for forage as the animal ages and gains weight is part of matching grazing intensity to pasture production.

Actual variable stocking - moving animals onto and off of pasture - only makes sense if it is easy for both the animal and the grass farmer. Herding them into trailers and hauling them around makes no sense. It takes time, fuel and equipment, and terrorizes the animals, which screws up their blood chemistry, puts them off feed and makes them sick. Kicking them off the pasture to graze the mountain works better. Letting them onto the pasture from the mountain works too.

Beef Myths

1. Fat, especially intramuscular fat, is what makes prime beef tender.
   

   
   - Nonsense. Beef is tough because of the collagen in muscles. The more a muscle is exercised the tougher it gets.
   

   
   That's why the most tender cuts from any given animal are in the upper midsection, the rib and loin area of the back. The rule of thumb is that the further a cut is from a hoof or horn the more tender it will be. The neck and shoulder areas, the chuck, are tough because they are well exercised. The belly, rump and shank areas are the same but nearer to hooves than horns.
   

   
   That's also why spending some time in a feedlot helps. Standing around getting fat means no exercise and softer muscles.
   

   
   A grass farmer can use these insights to make more tender beef. Don't work them. Don't chase them around in the hills if you want tender beef. Keep them in small paddocks with no more that a day's feed in it. Calmly walk them to a new paddock each day. Have water in every paddock so that they don't have to even walk to water.
   

   
   There is a genetic issue - some animals will harden up faster than others - but the behavior aspects are far more important and much easier to control. Any animal can be treated softly and made tender.
   
   

2. Fat, especially intramuscular fat, is what makes prime beef flavorful.
   

   
   - Nonsense. Age, diet and exercise are what makes beef flavorful. Milk veal from calves 3 months or less of age is bland, a delicate flavor easily overwhelmed by spices. As the animal ages, exercises and eats forage the flavor intensity and character increases.
   

   
   This is a problem since the most flavorful beef is also the toughest. For flavor the best beef is the closest to horn or hoof. Chuck is more flavorful than tenderloin. Shank is the best of all but so tough that it is mostly used as soup bones or for making beef stock to use in braising other less tough cuts.
   

   
   The older the animal and the harder its life the better it tastes so long as it had good graze. A 3 year old steer from the mountain will taste great so long as it has good grass. Some folks like old cow for that reason.
   
   

3. Fat, especially intramuscular fat, requires grain.
   

   
   - Nonsense. Intramuscular fat builds up whenever an animal is on a good gain - 1.7 pounds per day is the number the NZ grass researchers cite. A grass fed animal on great pasture will gain at this rate and more. Still, it takes longer to finish an animal on grass, even at 2#/day, since a starchy grain diet is even hotter and they gain faster.
   

To make tender beef with intramuscular fat on grass we need great pastures and well managed grazing systems. Such beef will be a little older and so maybe a little tougher, but that means more flavor.

This is especially attractive when the health and environmental benefits are considered. The beef is more nutritious in some very important ways and the environment is improved rather than degraded by industrial monocropping to produce grain. Knowing what cuts are tough and/or flavorful and why makes it possible to prepare those cuts in ways most appropriate to them and so have a satisfying as well as healthful meal.

A relevant story is the London Broil steak. Originally it was made with flank steak, one of the toughest and yet most flavorful cuts, quite near the hooves. The method is simple - marinate it in an acid (sour) liquid such as wine that breaks down collagen, cook it briefly at high temperature to sear and seal it, and then slice it across the grain for serving to shorten the tough collagen fibers and so make them seem more tender.

This was poor man's food. Flank was cheap because it was tough. Not any more. Rich folks discovered the flavor of tough meat and drove the price up. Now when you buy a steak labeled as London broil it will probably be round steak and doesn't work so well. It's not as flavorful and it's cut wrong. To slice it cross grain you'd have to stand it on edge.

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