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Why fully pastured cows are often healthiest and produce the best and safest milk with the lowest somatic cell count when a small grain ration is provided during milking rather than “100% grassfed”.
The dairy cows we see nowadays are not the same cows we see in old pictures from the 1930s.
The cows in those pictures were high-producing beef cows.
They have been selected for higher production and the self-preservation mechanism to drop that production when feed is unbalanced (i.e., too much grain OR too much grass/hay), has been bred out of them.
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 lignin.
Too much protein comes from too much short grass or too high protein hay.
Lignin comes from too-mature hay, or too-tall pasture.
Can Pastured Cows Get Too Much Grass?
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 can result in a situation where the cow is more prone to mastitis which may go undetected. Low-grade infection can trigger somatic cell counts in the milk to rise, a risk to consumer health.
This situation can also create high nitrogen (urea) in the bloodstream. The results are a negative effect on 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 reduced 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.
Small Amounts of Grain Compensate for Soil
So, grain has been fed to make up for the lack of soil mineralization and balanced forage as well as to meet a milking cow’s energy needs.
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 versus 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 principles of the cow are what they are.
It is not fair or wise to put the burden of unrealistic consumer choices on an animal or a farmer in an unsustainable way.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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!
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 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.
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?