Walked into a custom slaughterhouse last week and saw the numbers behind grass-fed vs grain-fed beef. Blew my mind.

I always figured grass-fed beef was just a marketing thing, but this place had kill sheets showing actual yield differences. A grass-fed steer averaged 58% of live weight as carcass, while grain-fed hit 62%. That 4% drop doesnt sound huge until you realize theyre losing 40 pounds of saleable meat per animal. The guy running the place told me grass-fed also takes 6-8 months longer to finish, so you get less meat per animal and fewer animals per year. I asked him if the premium price makes up for it and he just laughed. Has anyone here worked with both types and seen the same spread in your numbers?

2 comments

2 Comments

lisa_bennett6d ago

Hearing those numbers is rough. Really sorry you had to see that.

angelafisher6d ago

Used to think health data was just numbers but that changed my mind quick.