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20 Questions to ask a Beef Farmer

Not all beef is raised equally, and there are too many terms out there that can be misleading. Below, you will find 20 important questions to ask any beef farmer. These will help you get to the bottom of how the cattle are raised. We will include our answers to these questions, and explain how some of the terms can be misleading.

Are your animals raised on grass pasture?
Are your animals fed anything else besides grass and hay?
What percentage of the time are your animals fed hay?
What breed of cattle do you raise and why? What are the breeds of beef cattle vs. dairy cattle? Why shouldn’t we be eating dairy cattle?
Where do you get your hay? Is it organic, or produced organically without fertilizer & pesticides? Do you have to irrigate to produce hay? How nutritious is your hay? How far does your hay travel to get to you? If it is shipped in, how many truck loads do you get yearly?
How are your cattle finished? (Or, what do they eat for the last three months of their lives?)
Are your animals ever confined?
In your state, how many acres on average are needed per head of cattle? How large is your herd and what kind of acreage are they on?
How many months out of the year do you have good quality and nutritious grass pasture?
Do you need to irrigate in order to have grass pasture? What is your source of water? Drinking water for the cattle/water for the fields?
Are you the farmer? Or do you “partner” with the farmer?
How long have you been raising beef cattle?
Do you know what the top ten states to raise beef cattle are?
Do you ever use growth hormones, antibiotics, or steroids?
Do you use pesticides or fertilizer on your pasture?
What are your field management practices/sustainable agriculture practices?
Do you move your cattle from field to field? How often? How far? Are you the owner of all of the land? How is the land taken care of? How are they transported?
Do you breed your own cattle?
Do you vaccinate your cattle?
What are your certifications? Are you Animal Welfare Approved? Is your processing plant AWA? Are you a certified producer of the American Grassfed Association? Are you certified organic?

Check back soon for our answers and explanations to why some of these questions are important to ask.

«·» Green Beef Facts

All Natural
100% Grassfed
Grass Finished
Never Fed Corn
High in Omega-3
Never Confined
No Fertilizer
No Pesticides
No Growth Hormones
No Antibiotics
Family Farm Raised
Organic Practices

«·» About Our Family Farm
«·» Our Certifications
«·» Sustainability
«·» What is "GrassFed?"
«·» 20 Questions . . .
...to Ask a Beef Farmer
«·» Photos of the Farm