Grass fed beef for regenerative farming

The traditional Irish Moiled and Dexter breeds of cattle, in which we specialise, are relatively slow to mature, reaching their killing weight between 24 and 36 months. 

These rare cattle breeds are hardy, and can stand out in our Irish climate all year round. Their diet is made up exclusively of grass for 12 months of the year, if the farm land can stand the tramping of the cattle in the winter. Some of our suppliers farm on damp, clay soil and the pasture is spoilt by ‘poaching’ if the cattle stand out in the Northern Ireland winter, and so in the four months of winter they are housed and fed on silage or sugar beet pulp or a maximum of four pounds of grain per day.

Apart from being wormed, the cattle we use are not treated medicinally unless they are ill. They are not injected with antibiotics as a preventative, nor are they given extra hormones or probiotics.

After killing the hindquarters are dry aged in our cold store for 42 days. The beef has a creamy yellow fat (the colour of fat from grass fed cattle) and the meat is a dark, plummy red, marbled with fat, which melts during cooking – a kind of self-basting which ensures tender meat.

We also offer specialist un-aged beef, which is butchered within 3 days of slaughter and is frozen immediately to minimise the natural development of histamine in the carcase. 

Not only does grass fed beef have more flavour, it also has nutritional benefits. Meat from grass fed animals has two to six times more Omega Three fatty acids than meat from grain fed cattle. Omega Three’s are ‘good’ fats because they play a vital role in every cell in your body. With grass fed beef you are eating the type of meat that humans have evolved to eat over millennia, so naturally it is better for your body.

In the production of grass fed cattle small is beautiful. The larger the frame, the harder it becomes to ‘finish’ on grass. The traditional British and Irish native breeds are  small, thrifty, hardy animals and can thrive on grass alone. And it is those green leaves that contain the Omega Three. As well as high levels of Omega Three, grass fed beef is higher in Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA) and higher in antioxidant vitamins. 

Important to note: The grass-fed beef from the Irish Moiled and Dexter breeds is distinctly different from standard beef which you may be used to which is widely available in butchers and supermarkets. The rare breeds used for grass feeding as a part of regenerative farming are naturally as breeds very much fattier than the continental 'big beef' breeds which are favoured by butchers and supermarkets. 

The Dexter and Irish Moiled rare breeds are also much smaller (a Dexter steer kills at about 180kg, a Belgian Blue Steer kills at about 1500kg) so the cuts from these animals are much smaller. So, for example, the steak cuts - rib eye, sirloin, fillet and rump will be much smaller than you may be used to. 

If you, as a consumer, want to buy, for example, a 180g (6 ounce) fillet steak you can choose to purchase a 180g lean, large diameter fillet steak which will be from grain fed beef (as sold in butchers and supermarkets) or you can purchase a 180g smaller diameter but thicker grass fed fillet steak with more marbling (intramuscular fat) and more fat cover which is from beef cattle which have grazed on grass only and have not been grain fed. In both cases the weight of steak you buy is the same, but the shape of the steak will be different as it has been cut from completely differently sized animals, with different sized muscles.  

If you are looking for lean beef, our grass fed beef is definitely not for you and you should just buy grain fed beef which will provide the lean-ness you prefer.  You will not be able to find super lean grass fed beef steaks - if you find super lean steaks they are not grass fed.