Have you tried grass-finished (fed no grains) lamb or beef? If you have tried it and didn’t like it, I highly recommend trying it again. The health benefits are totally worth taking the time to find the right producer. I wish someone would have shared the following tips when we started raising grass-finished beef and lamb. I didn’t know a lot about lamb until I tried it over 6 years ago when my baby was displaying a lot of signs of allergies and lamb was one of the few things I could eat, but now that we have been raising lamb for ourselves and others, I have been able to collect some feedback.

I have been surprised by how many of our customers had never tried lamb before ordering from us. All the feedback (although we haven’t heard from every customer) has been very positive. I have heard many times that our grass-finished lamb has great flavor, texture, and is very tender. I believe the biggest contributor to the flavor is that hair sheep don’t have very much lanolin, unlike wool sheep, and this produces a much milder flavor.  It also helps that the lambs are kept with their mothers as they grow and are moved every day. This keeps their stress low and the lambs grow quicker which produces a better-quality meat. We also make sure that they get their kelp and salt daily which helps them to thrive.

I used to hear a lot of negative comments about grass-finished beef, but I haven’t heard any lately. Maybe producers are figuring this out. Cory and I are certainly not experts in this area. We have discussed this over the years and we have to wonder if part of the flavor issues that we heard about had to do with where the beef was raised. Some parts of the country have more sage or other weed issues and this can produce some off flavors. Another problem we see is that if the calves aren’t moved every day (if they are just put out in a large pasture), they don’t pack on the pounds as quickly and may be a little tough. Finally, we think that some of the grass-finished beef is too lean. The cows are processed before they get enough fat on them, and this leads to a very dry meat. Despite what we hear from our government, we believe that good quality fats from animals and good quality milk fat are essential to good health and leave a person satisfied and healthy.

To find the best quality grass-finished lamb and beef look for producers that are moving their animals daily during the growing season, sample a small amount before committing to a half or whole animal to make sure you like it, and definitely visit the farm. Have you had a good or bad experience with grass-finished meats? We love to hear from you!!