Guest blog by Tim Wightman, President of The Farm to Consumer Foundation
Cows are fermentation vats which means they depend on microbes and beneficial bacteria to digest forage and break down forage in their gut. This digestive fermentation allows a cow to absorb the nutrients and produce milk and meat as well as calves and breed back (get pregnant). Microbes and beneficial bacteria need starch (energy) to multiply to digest large amounts of protein or too much legnin.
Too much protein comes from too much short grass, or too high a protein hay.
Legnin comes from too mature hay, or too tall pasture.
Does this mean a cow can actually get too much grass or hay?
Yes it does.
Cows on too much protein (short grass with very little energy) drown the microbes in their guts resulting in very little forage being digested and utilized. This situation can create high nitrogen (urea) in the bloodstream which can effect body weight, milk production, milk quality, and breedability because the cows are actually starving even though they constantly eat.
Cows on too much old hay do not have the energy to digest the woody fiber of the hay and end up losing weight and or milk production and do not breed back because, once again, they are starving even though they constantly eat.
Cows only take so many mouthfuls a day, give or take a few minutes. They meet their needs or lose body weight, and/or milk until they die prematurely.
Forms of Starch
Balanced grass can have starch, and proper protein levels to match that starch, but that only happens on grass for a very short period (hours), unless one can control water and height.
But….
Most cannot.
So starch (energy) must be supplied to the cow in a form of grain, in an appropriate amount to meet the energy needs of the cow given the other forage she is eating.
A good dairyman knows this and will not withhold the grain when it is necessary for the cow’s health.
The more balanced the forage and grass she is eating the less grain she needs and the more nutrient dense the milk is.
However our soils are very much out of balance, so incomplete proteins are made which go into the blood stream quicker if microbes and beneficial bacteria are not in sufficient number to utilize the protein.
So, grain has been fed to make up for the lack of soil mineralization and balanced forage as well as to meet the energy needs of modern, higher producing cows.
Soil has been degraded to the point that farmers have problems holding on to the right amount of energy to protein ratios in our pasture.
Cows cannot travel to maintain the balance of energy to protein (new grazing grounds) as their Bison cousins did.
Humans are servants to cows until the consumer and producers reestablish the soil and forage balance.
The grain verses grass debate is not black and white. Both are a valuable part of a cow’s diet but not a complete diet in and of themselves.
The principals of the cow are what they are, and it is not fair to put the burden of unrealistic consumer choices on an animal or a farmer in an unsustainable way.
Sarah Pope has been a Health and Nutrition Educator since 2002. Her work is dedicated to helping families effectively incorporate the principles of ancestral diets within the modern household. She is a sought after lecturer around the world for conferences, summits, and podcasts.
Her work has been covered by major media including USA Today, ABC, NBC, and many others.
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Interesing post Tim.
What would be “realistic or resonable” choices for me to make? I want to be part of the solution, what are you asking me to do?
I, like Chris, would like to know what we as consumers can do. What questions do we ask? What do we look for? How can we support balance not only in our personal choices but with the farmers who produce what we consume?
I think that cows can live off of grass. We have a beef farm and our cows (female cows which have had 1+ calves & 2 bulls) live off of pasture and grass/alfafa hay, supplemented with minerals (which look like a dark, reddish sand). NO GRAIN after they are 1 year old. They are all perfectly healthy and pregnant, about to calf in the next month. Dairy cows are a raise differently because dairy’s are trying to maximize milk. We on the other hand are trying to raise healthy calves.
I don’t think it’s fair to say “Soil has been degraded to the point that farmers have problems holding on to the right amount of energy to protein ratios in our pasture.” MOST if NOT ALL farmers I know are concerned with soil health and take precautions to preserve it. Farmers don’t chose to farm to for a few year, use up soil nutrients and move on to the next pasture- that’s not feasible.
Hi Kacee, 100% grassfeeding beef cows is a lot easier than 100% grassfeeding dairy cows. See Tim Wightman’s detailed explanation below.
What are you basing your information on? I am a raw milk consumer and I would be very wary of any farmer who gives their dairy cattle more than a very small proportion of grain. This leads to an acid gut and problems with pathogens.
Hi Ann, this post is written by Tim Wightman who has been a dairy farmer leading the way for grassbased dairy for over 30 years.
I eat a grain-free diet for health reasons (http://www.knowthecause.com), so I don’t want my beef, dairy, or even poultry sources to be fed grain AT ALL. Most grain is contaminated., especially corn!
According to Dr. Ruth Etzel, PhD, MD, in the JAMA, January 02, she states that grains are “commonly contaminated” with mycotoxins…and corn is “universally contaminated” with mycotoxins. As stated on The American Society of Microbiology website, “Mycotoxins are secondary metabolites produced by microfungi that are capable of causing disease and death in humans and other animals. Because of their pharmacological activity, some mycotoxins or mycotoxin derivatives have found use as antibiotics, growth promotants and other kinds of drugs; still others have been implicated as chemical warfare agents.”
So if we’re trying to avoid antibiotics by eating organic meat, we are defeating that very purpose by eating meat and dairy that were fed grain!
Interesting. I eat organic, grass-fed meat from cows that have been given some grain -in the form of grass stalks complete with their seeds.
I thought small family farms that use organic, biodynamic, or permaculture methods were foremost interested in restoring, preserving and improving the quality of their soils. As far as I know, it is possible to recover depleted soils with time and care. Or where you talking about conventional, big farms?
The Organic Pastures raw milk I drink every day states on the bottle that it is organic and 100 percent grassfed. The milk is delicious and renewing, the best milk I have ever had.
I know six grassfed beef ranches very well. The cattle get all their nourishment from grazing on grass and meadow plants, or from hay in the winter. Some do give a mineral supplement.
The cattle on all these ranches are literally glowing with good health, put on weight as they graze, and provide meat that is absolutely delicious and nourishing.
None of these ranchers ever give any grain to their cattle. All of these ranches have good soil, plenty of lush green grass, and all of these ranchers rotate pastures for their cattle, giving the land time to regrow the grass after it has been grazed. All of these ranchers take care of the soil, going to special efforts to make it richer, because they know the quality of the grass depends of the quality of the soil. One rancher has doubled his grass yield by enriching the soil. Soil can be renewed.
Maybe the post makes sense if you have poor grass grown on depleted soil, but why would you want food that was raised on poor grass and depleted soil?
Cattle have nourished humanity for thousands of years.
Here is a link to an excellent article that describes the difference between grassfed and grain fed meat, and shows why grassfed is much, much better.
Health Benefits of Grass-Fed Products
how do you know those cows are healthy? How do you know how well they are breeding back, what their life span is, if they have chronic problems of any kind? The point of this article is that current dairy animals will suffer on a grass only diet. It is perfectly reasonable to feed a cow less than 2% grain in order to maintain good health. Consumers tend to simplify matters like this, not realizing you can’t just not feed a cow what she needs to be healthy. You can get types of cows that are dual purpose, and have them be grass-fed but it takes a lot of work, supplements and money, and there’s no profit to be made. asking a dairy man to sacrifice his herd to suddenly deprive their cows of much needed nutrients is unreasonable.
The denizens of our culture see food as belly fillers and taste bud tantalizers. Nourishment is assumed and hence not a priority: No hunger, no problem.
For those who prize nourishment as the prime reason for eating food, that process is changing them in interesting ways – they tend to see Nature in terms of sustainable co-operation instead of exploitation. In short, folks who follow the path toward Real Food are unwittingly becoming rather sophisticated. Their neighbors might even consider them snobs. However, it is hard to beat the wonder of watching raw cream from pastured Guernsey’s pour like a rope. This is wealth that can’t be measured with a bank statement.
Pavil, you need to write a novel! That was simply beautiful! 🙂 My sentiments exactly.
I could not agree more. That was truly eloquent, Pavil.
HI! Quick question for you (unrelated to this post): I know you recommend Green Pastures for FCLO. I would love to get some but it is so expensive! Are there any brands out there that are “second best”? What should I look for when researching another brand? Thanks so much for your time and all you do on your fabulous blog!
Hi Chanelle, Green Pastures is the only brand I recommend which is why it is the only brand on my Resources page.
https://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/resources/#supplements
Glad you are enjoying the blog! 🙂
I second that – Nordic Naturals *used* to be considered a second best option – but they add the vit. D back in after they “purify” it. And they source their vit. D from another place. I might get it if I was desperate… but otherwise….
The best thing is to go in on a big order with a bunch of friends, and buy more than you need (it keeps for a really really long time!) and get 20% off for buying 12 or more bottles.
Thanks for this post! It’s nice to see a more balanced argument on the subject.
Exactly, Kelsey. Balanced is the key. Some farmers are able to do 100% grassfeeding, but as Tim writes in the article MOST CANNOT. The soils and weather, pasture conditions make it impossible without harming the health of the cow.
I am very interested in this subject because I am about to purchase grass fed beef from a local farmer who has grass fed beef. The grass would not necessarily be organic. And they are also givern a little peanut hay, coastal hay and mag mineral. He also worms them twice a year through a feed. They are given no soy feed, steroids, or antibiotics. Would this be a good source for beef and bones for broth? Also, I thank you for your info. on scraping the fat off the top of the broth to use for cooking! Can I also ask to buy beef fat from the farmer to cook with? (I can’t eat butter right now). Thank you!
HI Kristie, this local source of beef you describe sounds like a good one to try out. I have not ever purchased just beef fat from a farmer, but then again, I haven’t tried either. Since you can’t eat butter, it is worth a shot.
Kristi, if you are buying bulk meat – as in 1/2 or 1/4 of a beef – you can ask the processor for the tallow and render it like you would render lard. You can then use that for cooking/frying. Farmers that sell beef by the cut probably do not have just the tallow. Most people wouldn’t know what to do with it and wouldn’t bother to ask for it. You have to ask the processor for it specifically and if you dont’ know to ask…you don’t get it.
Greeting All….
Lets start with a few principals to back fill what I wrote about…
Soils,
except in very few places the soils in our country do not have sufficent levels of “all” the base minerals for life so plants can uptake proper levels of all minerals needed to meet the needs of any grazing animal. If one has extreme diversity in the plants on the pasture or forage fields one can shorten that defeciency given different plants uptake different minerals to make thier profile.
However that does not happen very well given soil biology is low and plants cannot establish given excesses or severe deficencies.. However our pastures and forage fields are monocultures and the best we can do for pastures unless they are virgin prairie is around 9 plants per square foot. It has been reported that virgin prairie has well over 100 plants per square foot.
Add extraction of our mineral base with the farming practices of the past (pasture or crop) and the normally low soils in the majority of our country are lower yet so we get a lower quality plant that is improperly mineralized and in this senario creates incomplete protiens and or excessive legnin levels and a very narrow proper level window of consumption.
Either situation needs starch to provide energy to microbes to digest both, the microbes are different to each situation but the microbes all need fuel to multiply, digest forage, die off and offer in thier death the nutrients that rumenents need to live.
One pet peeve I have and we will deal with it now…beef cows are not dairy cows. Beef have a better conversion rate of lower quality feed to meat, but they also can take thier time getting to proper weight without any detriment to the animal, unless it is starved and stunted which can happen on very low quality feed and or too high a protein feed for proper rumen function.
You have a lot of grace with beef cows one cannot afford dairy cows.
Most beef cows are male and only live to age 16 to 19 months.
Dairy cows life span can be 7 to 15 years, one will find defecincies in 5 years where unless starved one will not see in 19 months.
Remember a 24 month old dairy cow that just had her first calf is loosing 40 to 80 lbs per day of her body weight in milk, and if her needs are not met another 1 to 2 lbs in body mass trying to create that milk for her calf or what was traditionally her calf.
If she receives the info that an unbalanced diet is present she thinks she is starving and cuts off the milk supply, self preservation. However most of that self preservation has been bred out of cows these days so they will not breed back, another self preservation aspect and milk themselves to death. This may take a few years but is common on many small dairy farms.
What effect does this have on the milk, low butter fat, low protien levels low enzyme and mineral content, a broke farmer and an auction is soon to follow.
Creamline does not indicate quality milk, the value of the cream determines quality milk. Cows will give a certian amount of cream per day and it is diluted with milk to arrive at various cream levels given a wide range of variables. A 8000 lb a year cow may have 8.5 % cream but does that cream yeild anything, only a total solids and cream test will determine. Demanding 8.5 % cream will break the producer in a heartbeat given most consumers pay by the gallon not on cream content.
The other situation is most of the cows have died off and the remaining are survivors, a few female calves are born some live and the rest are bought in regularity. Soon the farmer with low production has no money left to buy more cows and the auction happens just a few years later.
If one of the boughten cows does not bring in a pathogen which ends all mlk distribution, reputation, and a future.
The population of this country is very much removed from what the needs of animals are in order to create longevity let alone healthy products. Most producers are in the same boat and follow “consumer rules” production models and try to meet a demand.
The local nutrient dense food movement has adopted a policy of opposites, ran a few tests to create a market for this and that, and moved consumers right along the path of consumersim and called it progress.
We cannot go back to the way thing were, not ever.
We can however move forward to better animal products given what we have to work with.
This means we must understand where we are now, be open to the ugly facts and agree to move forward. The nutrient dense food movement has the idea that we do this for ourselves, in some small part that is correct.
However, the action we do today in partnership with our soils animals and producers will actually benefit our children most, IF we understand where we are in our current food production models, eat better than we did before, but not let emotions ruin the possiblities of our children.
The last principal I want to share is the fact that “production follow quality”.
Laymans terms, IF you meet the needs of the soil by balancing the minerals present and missing, and IF you meet the needs of the animals by balancing the excesses or deficencies found in the forage from those soils until they DO balance out, you get quality products and you get A LOT of them.
Wine growers use to think that the less production they get the better the product, however put these principals to work in a vineyard and you get higher quality than they ever had before, and they get more grapes than they ever had before.
Economics of effeciency is the “perk” of nutirent dense food.
However, it will take each and every nutrient dense consumer working in partnership with producers to gain this effeciency back.
Money invested now in reclaiming that soil and ration for that we depend on will pay handsom dividends in the future, with reduced costs of final products, and sustainability of the producer and the soils in his charge for future generations.
Everyone alive owes a debt to the soil we rely on, to demand a product of a certain quality without repayment of that debt will only quicken our pace to a very ugly end.
Grain is a bridge, crutch, call it what you may to that eventual remineralization and reactivation of the soil and all that depends upon it. Those who are sensitive to its effects have a challange to find nutirent dense soils for the products that they need to survive.
Demanding them from a producer who is not prepared to do so with the condition of their soils, is putting your own experience and or anger of a system on that producer, which was not his fault.
As we learn more about what we as a species has done to everything we have ever touched, we will learn that we have to live with those actions of our ancestors, effect change in the pace we can, and pass that knowledge on to the next generation and hope that we begin to leave what we pass on, in better shape than what we found it.
Sincerely
Tim Wightman
definitely a huge difference in the needs of meat v dairy animals! I do not give non-breeding males grain- they don’t need it and it causes all kinds of urinary problems.
“We cannot go back to the way thing were, not ever”
How pessimistic. If Salatin went back, others can too!!!
“We cannot go back to the way thing were, not ever.”
A bit apocalyptic there, no Tim? Joel Salatin states that to be a cow farmer you have to be a grass farmer. Your first job is not milk, but grass. His farm was a disaster when his father took it up, but the patient work of good agricultural practices have done for his farm what they have done for soils throughout history: improve its fertility. Orgainic or grass-fed is the same as conventional if the underlying philosophy and work ethic are resource exploitation. Agriculture is a symbiosis. There are plenty of amazing examples in Europe and the US that WE CAN GO BACK. Soil fertility can be regained. Natural grasses can be allowed back in the farm. Animal grazing can be managed in a way that it improves the grass quality and quantity and auto fertilizes the soil without tilling or adding any fertilizer, not even natural compost. This will result in better soil, better grass, healthier animals, better milk, and less work.
Before we go around stating absolutes like that, we should take a look around and see if it has or is being done, and it is. So then that statement is not true. We may not want to go back because it means we have to do things in unconventional ways. We may not like to make the initial investment it takes to go back, but we could go back, and some farmers do.
Tim’s whole point is that these things take a lot of time, which Salatin has done. Tim is talking about farmers that don’t have the soil that Salatin does from the get go yet consumers are demanding 100% grassfed from the start which is impossible without harming the dairy cow. Also, there is no way we will ever go back to the way things were .. we have technology now that we didn’t back then and we won’t have the black prairies of yesteryear from thousands of years of bison dung fertilizing the plains and prairies. Of course things will never be as they were back then when this country was first settled and the soil was virgin territory. Even Salatin’s farm isn’t that good.
I think the point is to keep one’s mind open to new possibilities and change as we move forward trying to rebuild our soils and our agriculture system from the shambles it is in. What is a truth today may not be so tomorrow. Some grain is needed for most grassfed dairy cows today but as the soils rebuild it will not be so tomorrow. We need open minded people who do not get emotionally attached to “this” idea or “that” idea and who are critical thinking problem solvers!!!!
Tim, thank you for taking the time to expand on your fantastic guest post. This information is so valuable and needed. As consumers we need to come together with our producers and work to rebuild our soils and not put the burden of unrealistic expectations upon them else they will not be there for us and our children tomorrow.
As a consumer, I expect a dairy farmer to feed his dairy cows some grain AT LEAST part of the year if not the entire year. If not, I worry the cows are paying for it with their health and that the milk is not as nutrient dense as is being claimed. Especially where I live in FL where the soil is sandy and not very nutrient dense at all. Grain less than 2% bodyweight per day is the rule of thumb I personally look for. If the cows is getting 2% or less in bodyweight per day of grain, then it is generally fine and not going to trigger acidosis and is likely very much benefiting a cow that is free to roam on pasture at all times.
I raise a few dairy goats and I can say that they need grain. They browse and browse and browse but do not make much milk if they don’t get grain on the milk stand. I would hate to see what kind of shape they would be in without it (they would get so skinny). They are quite selective, though, and won’t eat just anything. I think I would have a vey difficult time managing them if they didn’t get grain- meaning they would always be hungry and would find ways out of their fencing (electric or not).
We get our grass-fed meat and raw milk from a 100 percent certified organic farm which does not feed any grain to their cattle. They do get alfalfa, and they have very good soil (the farm has been in the family for nearly 80 years and careful attention has always been given to keeping healthy soil). I work on this farm and I have seen some stalks of “grain” type grasses in the fields where the cattle graze, but beyond that I know they don’t get any grain. The farmer is very knowledgeable about sustainable practices and he makes sure the cattle are given the very best care possible. They receive homeopathic treatment for any sickness or illness that comes along, but I can honestly say these cattle are the healthiest I’ve even seen in my life. The cattle also receive organic kelp in their diets, and other animals on the farm such as the pigs and chickens receive yogurt and sour raw milk in their daily diets. So I know our farmer is more mindful than many about how the animals are treated and what they consume. I’m not worried at all about the meat and milk we are consuming, but it’s possible what Tim is talking about could be an issue for other farms, should the balances be wrong and diet not what it should be.
This is a great starting off point for a very complex concern. I think a lot depends on the farm itself of course, as others have stated, but breed, overall care and I think most importantly- the type of grain(and the form it’s given) all play roles.
Grain free poultry? Hmmmm. That just doesn’t seem right to me, but either does vegetarian chickens :P.
The famous Pat Coleby does not recommend the use of alfalfa hay. I would have to go look up her reasons in my book if you are interested. If they are feedig a lot of alfalfa hay it’s no wonder they do’t have to use grain. But it might not be the healthier choice for the animals.
I agree. Just when you are told something is one way, you quickly hear someone telling you something different. Many times over it’s the same person you listened to in the first place who will end up telling you something different down the road. It’s frustrating. I know plenty of farmers (I live in farm country so my exposure is definately not limited) and MANY of them in this area have only grass fed grazing beef. They have some of the healthiest, prettiest vibrant and thriving cows and calves I have seen. To say that MOST farms can not raise totally healthy and thriving cows is a far stretch sorry… No offense to this writer but he may be a beef farmer of over 30 years… so are most of the farmers in my farming community who have been breeding healthy calves for many many years as well. You would think if this theory was accurate the quality of the young would be diminishing after so many springs of calves.
It is important to research and learn truths about the foods we choose but there is a point where you are no longer enjoying your food you are always worried about what you were told being healthy turning out to be “wrong” once again. Ya know what? Eat organic, eat your veggies and your meats and treat your animals humainely, replenish your lands that you grow food out of… eat, drink be merry!! I find the more I put everything under a microscope the more I LOOSE MY APPETITE!! God wants us to live off his land and respect it and ENJOY our foods.
Candace, would be very interested in this information on alfalfa hay if you are able to find it.
she says alfalfa is goitrogenic. and I’ve also read somewhere that it disposes livestock to carry heavier parasite (worm) loads, which I have found to be true. I always thought it was best for my animals (and used to pay more for it), but I’ve switchd over to mixed grass or orchard grass hay. She has several books on natural animal care
Thank you Candace. Will pass this on to my farmer. He uses alfalfa, but hey .. if he can make an improvement and save money at the same time, what a win-win for him and the customer.
I do not agree with some of Pat Coleby’s opinions/recommendations for livestock care. She suggests some things for cattle care that would be extremely detrimental to the health of the animal – some are quite potentially deadly to the animal.
I am very sympathetic and appreciative of the sentiment that I think the article is trying to convey, that we should understand that 100% grassfed dairy is in most cases not what we are going to get and perhaps not what we should expect. I fully understand that all farmers (even local, organic, raw milk providers) are not going to be able to live up to this standard and I am okay with that, for the moment. However 100% grass fed dairy is possible! We need to encourage and SUPPORT our farmers in raising the bar and improving their pastures.
Part of seeking traditional and nourishing foods is keeping the animals welfare in mind. Cows being ruminants are not made to process grain. It has been found that if you give your cows a small amount of grain while milking (to keep them still) they will be okay, however a large portion of their diet being grain will alter their stomach forever and be incredibly incredibly harmful to them.
However we traditional food enthusiasts are at the cutting edge! 100% grassfed milk is possible and it is done. In fact it is the gold standard. It definitely requires a much higher level of skill, cows who have never had grain and a deeper knowledge base from the farmer but but that is okay too. Just like human mothers dairy cows need Excellent Excellent nutrition, any old pasture does not cut it. Part of increasing the carbohydrates in grass involves frequent rotation, known as management intensive grazing.
I saw a few times in these comments people mentioned that it is easier to grass finish beef than have dairy be 100% grassfed. In theory this is true, but in reality much of the grass finished beef on the market just isn’t very well finished. This is a fledgling science and most of us are still getting the hang of it. Allan Nation of the Stockman Grass Farmer (the most influential Pasture based farming magazine) says that it takes most farmers 10 years to really hone the skill.
I used to find conventional milk acceptable until I found out about all of the nasty stuff in the milk, the way the cows were treated, etc. Then my family started drinking ultra-pasteurized organic milk thinking this was the answer. But now I know that ultra-pasteurization kills almost everything beneficial in the milk. Now we drink raw milk from a local dairy where the cows are pastured and live a lovely life. However they are being fed grain. Where do I go from here? I plan on having a dairy cow of my own, or perhaps three ewes and a ram (sheep) so that I can give my family the best possible nutrition and start to build up my knowledge base.