Cows fed candy during drought

[sallylondon]

Spare a thought for diabetics who love their beef> http://www.wpri.com/dpps/entertainment/ ... gr_4323303 . How do you think that this would affect blood sugars?

 

[CarbsRok]

Spare a thought for diabetics who love their beef> http://www.wpri.com/dpps/entertainment/ ... gr_4323303 . How do you think that this would affect blood sugars?

It wont affect the cattles blood sugar or yours.
Cattle when reared for meat are fed a balanced diet which does contain sugar and fat, which is in all that candy.
Normally it would just be bought as individual ingrediants and mixed for the feed.
Molasses is a favourite in this country.
Sheep love molasses as well.

 

[clearviews]

Cattle when reared for meat are fed a balanced diet which does contain sugar and fat, which is in all that candy.

Mmmm ............. I would have thought that a blanced diet for cattle would be grass, other vegetation and water?

 

[borofergie]

Cattle when reared for meat are fed a balanced diet which does contain sugar and fat, which is in all that candy.
Normally it would just be bought as individual ingrediants and mixed for the feed.
Molasses is a favourite in this country.
Sheep love molasses as well.

Yeah, well good luck with that. A balanced diet for a ruminant is "grass".

I'll stick to my grass fed meat. I'll leave the grain fed hormone injected, antibitiotic fed, Omega 6 rich stuff for the rest of you...

 

[shop]

Just asked my hubby about this he says he has heard about it in the past. We have just put 17 of ours back out to pasture. Little ones will stay in for now.

Lucy xxx

 

[Fraddycat]

Boro, where do you buy grass fed meat? I'm guessing not Tescos ...?

 

[phoenix]

I don't think that it's necessary to exaggerate. European beef isn't pumped with hormones: it's not allowed. Most is grass fed for a great deal of the year but pragmatically not all the year, or at all stages. The farmers near me keep their cattle out for most of the year, I'm sure it's cheaper that way and they aren't rich! Nevertheless , when it snows, when the ground freezes ( it dropped to -14C for a week this year ) and when there is little good grass they take them into the barns. Similarly when there's a drought in summer and the grass doesn't grow then they are still in the fields but but they give them supplemental feed.
I don't what mixtures they give them but most farmers here have a field of maize. This is chopped up in it's entirety for feed (ie all the plant, not just the kernels), they cut hay , they make silage and I'm sure they give them commercial feed as well.
It's not total grass feeding but it isn't the US feed lot system either.
In Europe, A Cow Over Hormone-Treated U.S. Beef (purely by chance interviewing a French farmer, I think the passport system applies to Europe.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/stor ... =113314725

 

[CarbsRok]

In the UK it's almost impossible to rear beef and or dairy cattle on grass alone. Even the haylage and sometimes even the silage fed in the winter is preserved with molasses. Mineral blocks put out in the fields are full of molasses. Dairy cake (feed for dairy cows) is quite high in fat and goodness knows what else.
Beef animals are quite often fed a lot of grain mixed in with sugarbeet and molasses.
You can actually buy grass nuts they are very high protien.

 

[shop]

I don't think that it's necessary to exaggerate. European beef isn't pumped with hormones: it's not allowed. Most is grass fed for a great deal of the year but pragmatically not all the year, or at all stages. The farmers near me keep their cattle out for most of the year, I'm sure it's cheaper that way and they aren't rich! Nevertheless , when it snows, when the ground freezes ( it dropped to -14C for a week this year ) and when there is little good grass they take them into the barns. Similarly when there's a drought in summer and the grass doesn't grow then they are still in the fields but but they give them supplemental feed.
I don't what mixtures they give them but most farmers here have a field of maize. This is chopped up in it's entirety for feed (ie all the plant, not just the kernels), they cut hay , they make silage and I'm sure they give them commercial feed as well.
It's not total grass feeding but it isn't the US feed lot system either.
In Europe, A Cow Over Hormone-Treated U.S. Beef (purely by chance interviewing a French farmer, I think the passport system applies to Europe.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/stor ... =113314725

Thats about the same as us Pheonix. We normaly would have them out at pasture through the summer. Then in winter in a barn being fed silage and corn. We had to bring ours in from pasture a few months back when it was raining so much because the field itself would have been ruined. We keep little ones in or put them in a paddock next to the house. Most farmers bring them in for winter as they need silage and hard feed.

Lucy xxx

 

[Robinredbreast]

I don't think that it's necessary to exaggerate. European beef isn't pumped with hormones: it's not allowed. Most is grass fed for a great deal of the year but pragmatically not all the year, or at all stages. The farmers near me keep their cattle out for most of the year, I'm sure it's cheaper that way and they aren't rich! Nevertheless , when it snows, when the ground freezes ( it dropped to -14C for a week this year ) and when there is little good grass they take them into the barns. Similarly when there's a drought in summer and the grass doesn't grow then they are still in the fields but but they give them supplemental feed.
I don't what mixtures they give them but most farmers here have a field of maize. This is chopped up in it's entirety for feed (ie all the plant, not just the kernels), they cut hay , they make silage and I'm sure they give them commercial feed as well.
It's not total grass feeding but it isn't the US feed lot system either.
In Europe, A Cow Over Hormone-Treated U.S. Beef (purely by chance interviewing a French farmer, I think the passport system applies to Europe.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/stor ... =113314725

Thats about the same as us Pheonix. We normaly would have them out at pasture through the summer. Then in winter in a barn being fed silage and corn. We had to bring ours in from pasture a few months back when it was raining so much because the field itself would have been ruined. We keep little ones in or put them in a paddock next to the house. Most farmers bring them in for winter as they need silage and hard feed.

Lucy xxx

A great post Phoenix :thumbup:

Even though I don't eat alot of beef, I am really shocked and surprised by the US methods, as the man said, it's like doping in sport.
A bit of an eyeopener We tend to eat Quorn now ( its not very flavoursome, even cooking spag Bol) :| but my daughter wont eat cows or pigs ( her words, bless her).

Shop, would I be able to see a photo or an attachment of your lovely animals, they sound wonderful. I'm a big softy when it comes to animals How are the cows coping with this hot weather? best wishes RRB xx

 

[shop]

Hi RRB wil try to upload some pics. They not doing too bad just got to keep them hydrated.

Think I will have to do it on a new thread, last time I tried it dissappeared!

 

[borofergie]

Boro, where do you buy grass fed meat? I'm guessing not Tescos ...?

Tescos? What is this thing? Is it like Waitrose but for poor people*?

Standard Waitrose meat is at least 100% forage fed in the summer and and at least 75% in the winter:

Cattle are finished all year round to maintain a regular and consistent supply therefore during the summer these cattle would be finished from 100% forage diet and our standards insist that forage must be at least 75% of the diet (winter). Forage comes in several guises, the common ones being grass, hay, silage but also whole crop cereals, maize silage's, roots and other fodder crops. Farmers grow and conserve these crops as part of their farm rotation in order to finish these cattle. Therefore there is a good nutrient supply that supports the diet even during winter months. Grain my be used for feed as long as the requirement for 75% forage is maintained.

Like beef, lamb is predominantly forage/ grass fed, but may receive supplemented feed where forage is short or unavailable.

If you are prepared to pay for it, Waitrose also do a grass fed range (which I presume doesn't include any grains). I usually fill up the freezer whenever I see it, because it isn't always in stock. Since meat is the biggest part of my diet, I prefer to maximise the quality whenever I can.

Off to America again next week - so whether I like it or not, I'll be eating grain fed factory junk.

*I'm joking of course. I'd shop in Waitrose more, but I'm addicted to Clubcard points.

 

[Scardoc]

So..... we use the cow scraps for gelatin which goes into candy....... then feed the candy to the cows....... then use the cow scraps for gelatin........ genius if slightly cannabalistic! I'll start throwing the cows a jelly baby or two when I'm running past them.

 

[AMBrennan]

If you are prepared to pay for it

It's not just an issue of price - grains are more efficient, and eating grains directly is even better. There simply isn't enough space to feed 7 billion people on grass-fed beef.

 

[borofergie]

If you are prepared to pay for it

It's not just an issue of price - grains are more efficient, and eating grains directly is even better. There simply isn't enough space to feed 7 billion people on grass-fed beef.

And therein lies the problem...

There wouldn't be 7 billion people if we didn't feed them with cheap grain. Maybe Thomas Malthus had it right all along.

 

[Fraddycat]

I

Tescos? What is this thing? Is it like Waitrose but for poor people*?

Haha, 4 very hungry adults in my house, so yes I am a poor person [also addicted to clubcard points ]. I've really noticed how much my food bill has gone up since I have been low carbing. I guess carbs are cheap and real food is not. Worth it though, I have never felt better!

 

[clearviews]

My query was over the terminology of what was regarded as a "natural" diet for cattle and not an "accepted" diet for domesticated cattle in times of drought and winter.
I certainly understand that without these interventions the farmers would not have a profitable livelyhood and the cattle would die. I was just commenting what the understanding of a 'natural' diet is.

 

[Etty]

... I was just commenting what the understanding of a 'natural' diet is.

Think of a buffalo on the Serengeti.

 

[Etty]

There is grassfed beef available on the internet, here's one:
http://shop.fordhallfarm.com/animalsbeef/

 

[Rob R]

I'm a diabetic grassfed beef farmer who has had to use molasses this year in what has been an exceptional year weather-wise (and found this forum quite by chance via Google).

We have previously exclusively used grass and forage to feed our animals but this year really has been so wet that we had to bring them in 2 months earlier than planned. It's been so wet that making enough forage for the usual winter needs has been impossible and the quality of all forage available is lower than in 'normal' years and molasses has been a life saver. It doesn't feed the ows themselves but the bacteria in their rumens, which the cows then digest. Forages this year have been particularly low in sugars and molasses helps make up for the lack of natural sugars and allows the animals to fully utilise the forage so it makes it more efficient and reduces the overall amount of forage needed - vital this year when it simply isn't available. The alternative is to either kill the animals or let them starve as they would naturally do in the Serengeti.