Hasbeen

The majority of supermarket meat is grain-finished. Grass-fed meat is in the minority.

And just what else have I written which could possibly justify your arrogant claim of 'utter garbage'?

How about you engage in respectful rebuttal instead of stooping to juvenile insults?

I remember your form when I used to contribute to this site ten years ago. Nothing has changed. You're still as rude and belligerent as you were back then. Most people learn how to argue with fairness and decency as they get older, but you're obviously a lost cause!

And BTW, I grew up on a farm and live in the bush, so again, your patronising advice to 'get out to the bush' is completely off the mark.

I call it garbage, because you are talking garbage Bronwyn.

There are thousands of cattle turned off around here, & only one small feed lot catering to a maximum of 160 bullocks at a time, max 520 a year. Most of wide bay for example the only feed lots are opotunity lots, feeding grain only when drought forces them to feed stock, so make an asset of a problem.

Hasbeen

It appears we're at cross purposes over the term 'grain-fed'.

When I used the term in my first post on this thread, I was referring to animals (and probably mainly beef cattle) being fed grain at any point in their rearing. I was not inferring they had been fed grain all their lives. Yes, some are (eg Wagyu), but the majority are grass-fed for most of their lives and finished off intensively with grain feed in feedlots. This is what I was meaning when I said 'grain-fed'.

Grass-fed cattle are not fed grains at any point in their rearing. When I refer to 'grass-fed', I mean certified grass-fed, which means no grain at all. This is the best choice of meat and it's definitely in the minority. There's only ever a small amount of it available on any supermarket shelves.

According to the Australian Lot Feeders Association, approximately 80% of beef sold in major domestic supermarkets is sourced from the cattle feedlot sector.

I am not speaking 'garbage'. I do concede however that perhaps there would have been less misunderstanding on your part had I used the term 'grain-finished' instead of 'grain-fed'. That's as much as I'm conceding to you, Mr Hasbeen!

And BTW, even if I had been wrong, it's lazy and offensive of you to merely dismiss my views as 'garbage'. Presenting clear rebuttal leads to much better understanding on all sides. You should try it a bit more often!

Bronwyn the percentage of grain finished cattle in Oz is miniscule.

Quite a few growers around here grow feed for the largest feed lot, the volume of which is small compared to the numbers going from paddock to abattoir. What they feed, unlike the US where they feed a lot of grain, is chop chop. This is the complete grain plant, such as corn, which is harvested before any grain has fully developed, the entire plant being chopped small & fed straight into the truck. The cattle are eating it with in the hour. It is done this way as there is much less wastage than if the stock is allowed into the crop.

There is no way the Oz consumer is going to buy much grain finished beef, at $50+ a Kg it is too expensive for our market. There is a very small market for 100 day grain finished Angus beef, but it is very small.

I hear what you're saying and respect your local area knowledge.

You are, however, still muddling the terms 'grain-fed' and 'grain- finished'. They are different. I'm talking about grain-finished, not grain-fed.

I absolutely won't accept your claim that the percentage of grain-finished cattle in Australia is miniscule. As demonstrated by the quotes below, it clearly is not. It's more like 75-80%, which, as I said, is the majority of meat on supermarket shelves.

“Around 75 per cent of the meat found in Australia’s big supermarkets today will be grass-fed beef that has been finished on grain.”
https://www.farmhousedirect.com.au/blog/general/grass-fed-or-grain-fed-beef

“We’ve always seen ourselves as a finishing system. Our cattle spend most of their lives on grass and we finish the product off on a highly nutritious grain ration.” (Australian Lot Feeders’ Association president)
https://www.mla.com.au/news-and-events/industry-news/grain-fed-finished-standard-introduced

"According to the Australian Lot Feeders Association, approximately 80% of beef sold in major domestic supermarkets is sourced from the cattle feedlot sector."
https://sustainabletable.org.au/all-things-ethical-eating/bee

We might have to agree to disagree on this!

Bronwyn,

A diet with some meat in it is healthier than a vegetarian diet and much healthier than a vegan diet.

Secondly, the net result of a cow's life has zero impact on climate change.