Is Certified Organic Beef Grass- or Grain-Finished?
Both Grass-Finished and Grain-Finished Beef can qualify as organic if the producers meet the USDA regulations. Producing Certified Organic Beef has three phases. The first is cow-calf, which is the period from birth to weaning. The second phase is backgrounding, the period when the animal is weaned and begins to graze. During these two phases, cattle must be fed organically-grown pasture and hay. During the last phase, called the finishing phase, some farmers choose to add organically grown grain to the cattle’s diet. Organically produced feed grain is created in certified organic mills. Organic farmers must maintain organic pasture for the cattle to graze on throughout all three production stages. (For a more complete list of organic management practices, see Recent Growth Patterns in the U.S. Organic Food Market by Carolyn Dimitri and Catherine Greene, USDA, Agriculture Information Bulletin Number 777, September, 2002.
