A study funded by UC SAREP is investigatingwhether a new regional market for grass-fed, "natural" beef could help save grazing land from being converted into ranchettes.

"We hope this study will provide us with more in-depth information to determine whether consumers will purchase and eat grass-fed natural beef, whether raising it will be economically feasible, and whether we can develop useful marketing plans for producers," says Glenn Nader, UC livestock and natural resources farm advisor in Yuba, Sutter and Butte counties, and co-principal investigator on the project.

The study builds on the previous work of a team of ranchers, California State University, Chico, researchers, UC Cooperative Extension personnel and students who found strong consumer interest in a grass-fed beef product.

In a pilot study more than 90 percent of the Chico-area consumers who purchased and ate grass-fed, mechanically tenderized beef would purchase it again and 73 percent would pay more for similar ground meat.

"This is simply preliminary data," says Dave Daley, animal science professor at CSU Chico and co-principal investigator, "but the results are encouraging enough to warrant an expanded study of the possible market."

CSU Chico Agricultural Economist Annette Levi says that of those who purchased beef in the local survey, 97 percent had some concerns about meat, including health issues (fat, cholesterol), contamination questions (E. coli),and questions about antibiotics and growth stimulants.

Good Timing

Nader said that the team of researchers and ranchers believes the increased emphasis on natural, lower-fat products by consumers suggests this is an appropriate time to evaluate the acceptability of a grass- (or forage) fed, natural beef product, finished and distributed near the Northern California areas in which it was raised.

"The feedlot is the traditional method of raising and marketing beef," he says. "We're trying to find out if producers can be successful using an alternative way to raise and market beef cattle." Raising grass-fed beef may be an untapped market for producers, Nader says, which may also have the effect of attracting consumers who have cut back on eating beef.

The primary intent of the project is to demonstrate the feasibility of an alternative, sustainable food system, which begins to stabilize family ranches and rural communities, according to Daley. The massive feedlot industry in the U.S. and a packing and distribution system designed to accommodate large volumes of grain-fed cattle has led to the elimination of small, local packing facilities from rural communities, and waste management and water quality issues at the feedlots, Daley says. Packer consolidation has limited marketing options for small- and mid-sized family ranches. With reduced profitability of ranches and increased urbanization of California rangeland, many have left the business, selling small parcels of their land as ranchettes.

Others sell feeder cattle to Midwestern feedlots where they are processed, and then shipped back to California for retail. "Transporting them from the region of production has a destabilizing effect on rural communities," he adds. "Grass-fed beef would be a regional product, marketed through community-based packing plants in Northern California, and would require less transportation costs than feedlot-finished beef."

Before WWII

Daley says that prior to World War II, most cattle were forage fed. "We'veonly been feeding cattle with high-energy grain-based diets for 50 years." The rising cost of grain-based diets has also contributed to a renewed interest in evaluating forage-fed beef, he says.

One of the results of feedlot-finished beef is more tender meat, Daley says. "However, standard taste panels used to get reaction to beef tend to be skewed by the fact that they're traditionally conducted in research facilities where average consumers are usually not part of the panel," he says.

"We want to ask more consumers what they think of grass-fed beef," Daley says. He notes that those consumers in the pilot study were pleased with the tenderness of the meat, which was needle-tenderized at a meat processing facility in Chico.

Researchers are concerned that producers plan carefully for changes in their production systems. "It's critical for producers to "pencil out" the exact cost-revenue break-even point for a new marketing plan," says Levi. She says the UC SAREP grant will help researchers gather economic data for producers' marketing plans. "They should be familiar with the market and confident of success, besides just knowing what the costs of production will be," says Levi.

One of the issues for producers is the slightly yellow-colored fat of grass-fedbeef. This is the result of the high beta carotene (Vitamin A) content of grass diets. The beta carotene is stored in the fat. Although the yellow color is healthy, Levi says, processors are not familiar with it since feedlot diets produce white fat. Preliminary studies indicate that consumers do not seem concerned about the color of the fat, Levi says.Needle-tenderized frozen beef lost most of the yellow color in the fat.

"It's time to think about what's out there for markets," Daley says. "Grass-fed beef may be a market for those who normally don't eat beef."