High Quality Beef
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Our beef is a grain and forage fed premium Angus beef. Over 50% of our steers grade USDA Prime or the best USDA Choice possible, which is part of the Certified Angus beef program. Moreover, 90% of our steers grade USDA Choice or better. We hand select only our elite cattle for our direct marketed and locally sourced programs.
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What do we feed our cattle?
We believe cattle are what they eat. We only feed premium ingredients to our cattle to ensure a high-quality end product for our consumers. Steers are typically out on pasture grass for the first 2/3 of their life and finished with a corn/forage based diet for the last 1/3, in order to produce a nicely marbled product. Higher marbling gives beef greater sensory attributes – juiciness, tenderness and flavor intensity.
Why else do we finish cattle with grain?
The short answer is sustainability. Our goal is to reduce our environmental inputs.
Grass Fed Beef vs. Grain Fed Beef
It takes an additional 226 days for grass finished cattle to reach market weight than it does grain finished cattle. Each pound of grain finished cattle require 45% less land, 76% less water and 49% less feed. The important thing to remember is whether beef is grass fed or grain fed, it’s a safe and wholesome product. There is no reason to be fearful of grain fed beef. Grain feed beef is just as natural, nutritious and humanely raised as grass fed beef but has less overall environmental impact than grass fed.
Do we use growth promoting implants?
The answer is yes and here is why. There is no such thing as “hormone-free” beef, or any other meat, as all meat products contain hormones. Hormones are products of living cells naturally found in both plants and animals. There are six hormones approved for use in beef production. Three are natural hormones (testosterone, estradiol, and progesterone), and three are chemically similar synthetic hormones (melengestrol acetate, trenbolone acetate and zeranol).
Growth hormones in beef are primarily administered using a small pelleted implant that is placed under the skin on the back of the ear. The implants are designed to release the hormone slowly over time into the bloodstream. This ensures that hormone concentrations remain constant and low. Since the ear is discarded at harvest, the implant does not enter the food chain. Implants work by increasing the amount of growth regulating hormones, which are naturally produced by the animal. This, in turn, increases feed efficiency, protein deposition and growth rate. Implanted steers usually result in a 10-20% increase in average daily gain (growth rate) compared to non-implanted steers. Moreover, because of the increased feed efficiency, less feed is required. Steers that are finished in a feedlot with the aid of growth hormones require less total land mass, less feed crops and create fewer greenhouse gasses per pound of beef produced compared to non-growth hormone pasture based finishing systems.
Most of the rhetoric surrounding hormone-free beef is false or inaccurate. In order to understand the safety of growth-promoting implants, we must first understand the science behind how growth hormones affect our food.
Estrogen is naturally occurring in almost all animal and plant-based foods. A 3 oz. serving of beef naturally contains 1.3 nanograms of estrogen, while a 3 oz. serving of beef from an animal administered a growth-promoting implant will contain 1.9 nonograms of estrogen. That is a 0.6 nanogarm increase, but it’s all about making things relative to put them into perspective. Would you be shocked to know...?
Click here for more information about hormone use in beef cattle.
Do we use Antibiotics?
First, and most importantly, there are no antibiotics in the food supply ever. It is illegal. We also do not routinely use antibiotics in feed. We only administer an antibiotic to an animal that is suffering and in need. Treating a sick animal with antibiotics is the humane thing to do. Not treating a sick animal is inhumane. We diligently follow label direction and observe proper withdrawal times so those antibiotics never enter the food supply. You can be confident all of us at Arndt Farms are Beef Quality Assurance Certified.
To find out more, click on a link below:
Antibiotic Stewardship is Not New to Cattle Ranchers
Antibiotic Use in Cattle 101
We believe cattle are what they eat. We only feed premium ingredients to our cattle to ensure a high-quality end product for our consumers. Steers are typically out on pasture grass for the first 2/3 of their life and finished with a corn/forage based diet for the last 1/3, in order to produce a nicely marbled product. Higher marbling gives beef greater sensory attributes – juiciness, tenderness and flavor intensity.
Why else do we finish cattle with grain?
The short answer is sustainability. Our goal is to reduce our environmental inputs.
Grass Fed Beef vs. Grain Fed Beef
It takes an additional 226 days for grass finished cattle to reach market weight than it does grain finished cattle. Each pound of grain finished cattle require 45% less land, 76% less water and 49% less feed. The important thing to remember is whether beef is grass fed or grain fed, it’s a safe and wholesome product. There is no reason to be fearful of grain fed beef. Grain feed beef is just as natural, nutritious and humanely raised as grass fed beef but has less overall environmental impact than grass fed.
Do we use growth promoting implants?
The answer is yes and here is why. There is no such thing as “hormone-free” beef, or any other meat, as all meat products contain hormones. Hormones are products of living cells naturally found in both plants and animals. There are six hormones approved for use in beef production. Three are natural hormones (testosterone, estradiol, and progesterone), and three are chemically similar synthetic hormones (melengestrol acetate, trenbolone acetate and zeranol).
Growth hormones in beef are primarily administered using a small pelleted implant that is placed under the skin on the back of the ear. The implants are designed to release the hormone slowly over time into the bloodstream. This ensures that hormone concentrations remain constant and low. Since the ear is discarded at harvest, the implant does not enter the food chain. Implants work by increasing the amount of growth regulating hormones, which are naturally produced by the animal. This, in turn, increases feed efficiency, protein deposition and growth rate. Implanted steers usually result in a 10-20% increase in average daily gain (growth rate) compared to non-implanted steers. Moreover, because of the increased feed efficiency, less feed is required. Steers that are finished in a feedlot with the aid of growth hormones require less total land mass, less feed crops and create fewer greenhouse gasses per pound of beef produced compared to non-growth hormone pasture based finishing systems.
Most of the rhetoric surrounding hormone-free beef is false or inaccurate. In order to understand the safety of growth-promoting implants, we must first understand the science behind how growth hormones affect our food.
Estrogen is naturally occurring in almost all animal and plant-based foods. A 3 oz. serving of beef naturally contains 1.3 nanograms of estrogen, while a 3 oz. serving of beef from an animal administered a growth-promoting implant will contain 1.9 nonograms of estrogen. That is a 0.6 nanogarm increase, but it’s all about making things relative to put them into perspective. Would you be shocked to know...?
- There are 340ng of estrogen in peas per 3 oz serving.
- There are 11,250ng of estrogen in soy milk per 3 oz serving.
- There are 35,000ng of estrogen in a human birth control pill.
Click here for more information about hormone use in beef cattle.
Do we use Antibiotics?
First, and most importantly, there are no antibiotics in the food supply ever. It is illegal. We also do not routinely use antibiotics in feed. We only administer an antibiotic to an animal that is suffering and in need. Treating a sick animal with antibiotics is the humane thing to do. Not treating a sick animal is inhumane. We diligently follow label direction and observe proper withdrawal times so those antibiotics never enter the food supply. You can be confident all of us at Arndt Farms are Beef Quality Assurance Certified.
To find out more, click on a link below:
Antibiotic Stewardship is Not New to Cattle Ranchers
Antibiotic Use in Cattle 101
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