There is a lot of wonderful marketing out there these days…that confuses the hell out of everyone. Various organizations and agencies have tried to simplify it by offering various certifications.
But what do all these terms mean…if anything. And where does Wild Harmony Farm fall?
For the sake of time, I’ll just focus on beef terminology here.
Natural - This means nothing. There is no definition for it. No one verifies it. Meaningless.
Grass-fed - Sadly, this also means nothing. Every cow in the world eats grass at some point in their life. Even the feedlot, grain-finished, cattle eat grass when they are younger.
Organic - The USDA has a very lengthy protocol for what can qualify as organic, and these processes have to be documented and inspected once each year. In general, this means, antibiotic-free, hormone-free, GMO-free, and nasty chemical-free. These animals can still eat grain, and usually do.
Grass-finished - “Finishing” describes the last portion of an animal’s life. The treatment and diet of the animal is very significant during this period, which for beef cattle can be 3-6 months. The quality of the meat is greatly impacted by these last few months. Too much stress, and the meat can taste of hormones. Too slow of weight gain and the meat can be dry, lean, and tough. For these reasons, the conventional beef industry feeds grain, so that significant weight gain is easily achieved. This term is not regulated, and does not mean that these animals NEVER received grain, just that they did not in the last few months.
100% Grass-fed - There are several certification programs for this, and it ensures that the cattle never received grain in their entire life. More accurately, the term should be “100% forage-fed” because the cattle actually need forages other than grass (like clovers and chicory) to put on the desired weight for high quality beef.
Product of the USA - This has historically meant nearly nothing, as there were plenty of loopholes that allowed foreign-born, and raised livestock to be labeled as “Product of the USA.” Just this year, the USDA passed a new regulation that would require that meat labeled as such, be born and raised in the USA. However, this rule does not go into effect until 2026, so for now, this meat could still be produced in another country.
Wild Harmony Farm Beef - We are very particular about our beef for many reasons, which I won’t get into here (but I’m happy to at our tours and Fireside Chats). Our cattle are 100% grass-fed and finished, and grazed on USDA-certified organic pastures, but we only carry an actual certification for the pastures.
We spent a year looking all over our country for a farm where we could buy certified organic and certified 100% grass-fed calves, but we couldn’t find a single source that could supply us. So we decided instead to meet the farmers, walk their pastures, meet their cattle, and learn their practices. In essence, we have become our own certifier.
Understanding that the final 3-6 months is the most important for producing the highest quality beef, we have chosen to do the “finishing” phase ourselves. And it requires incredibly high quality, diverse, and abundant forages to obtain the proper growth on the cattle without feeding grain.
Reply to let us know what other terms you are curious about.
- Farmer Ben