What are your cows eating? -thoughts and facts please

wellbert

Corn is bad enough. I'll stick to grass-fed, thanks.

PaleoPath4Lyfe

Former farm girl here. My now ex-husband owned a dairy farm that was in the family for over 100+ years. I recently visited the farm and some other farms while I was there (New York) to see some friends. I can assure you that not at one of them did I see any of the items you mentioned fed to the cattle. We have always fed and they continue to feed the cattle hay, dried corn, soy beans, sileage, minerals etc. No chocolate, taco shells or the like as mentioned in the story. The most obscure? food I have ever seen fed to the cattle is unsold pumpkins from the nearby grower. I saw the story also and honestly feel that farms that they mentioned are more the exception than the rule. I will say though that fresh locally raised beef tastes a thousand times better than the meat you buy at chain grocery stores.

I buy my beef from a local farmer. Only Corn Fed. No hormones. Cut the steaks with a fork!

I hate to tell you, but corn fed beef is NOT healthy

Softrbreeze

Kind of reminds me of way back when when people used to slop the hogs. They ate leftover table scraps and garden remains. Not much different.

Seriously??? People ate way better back in the day. Their table scraps were most likely healthier than what most people are stuffing their faces with these days. Healthier produce and MUCH less sugar, for sure.

Sandy307

When I was growing up in UK we raised pigs and chickens. The chickens were "free range" and had access to the grass and garden to get all the little extras that they needed. The yolks of the eggs they produced were bright yellow and stood up in the white as healthy eggs should. The pigs had their purchased pig meal from the mill but we also supplemented that with waste from the hotel business as well as the leftovers from the local fish and chip shop.... Not sure what they used to fry in but I am betting it might have been lard..... We always got top price for our pigs when they went to auction at market and as soon as the butchers knew they were from our farm the bidding started to go way up. Just saying! It seems that animal production has always used leftovers of some kind for food. Not saying I agree with it as I have never done any kind of study on how it impacts the health of the animal. I am suspecting it would depend a whole lot on the amount fed and for how long. Have to say, I envy those cows being fed chocolate as part of their diet LOL!!! (Just kidding!!)

ChunkiChica

Do you know that humans are the only species that seek out and drink another species milk? Do you know that baby cows are removed from their mothers within a few days of birth so that their milk can be stolen for human consumption? Do you know that the overproduction of milk in dairy cows produces a high PUS count in the milk you drink? Yes, PUS. Do you think that is healthy? Forget what they told you when growing up- that we need dairy products to be healthy, yada yada yada. Drinking cows milk, horse milk, pig milk or dog milk is NOT natural and not healthy. AT ALL. The consumption of animal products correlates with the development of cancer, heart disease, diabetes, etc. All the major killers. The more of these products you eat, the more trouble you are in. Read about the China Study, watch Forks Over Knives, do SOMETHING. But please don't believe that you are consuming dairy products for your health. There is nothing healthy whatsoever about what the animal industry is doing to you via your palate. All they care about is their bottom line.

Dog....milk? Umm..

Yes, even though I'm a dairy fanatic, it's not really meant for us. In fact, our last evolutionary change was the ability to drink milk from other animals - that is one of the reasons why there are so many lactose-intolerant people out there. If you really want dairy that is "naturally" similar (such as to human breast milk) goats milk is the way to go.

126siany

Do you know that humans are the only species that seek out and drink another species milk? Do you know that baby cows are removed from their mothers within a few days of birth so that their milk can be stolen for human consumption? Do you know that the overproduction of milk in dairy cows produces a high PUS count in the milk you drink? Yes, PUS. Do you think that is healthy? Forget what they told you when growing up- that we need dairy products to be healthy, yada yada yada. Drinking cows milk, horse milk, pig milk or dog milk is NOT natural and not healthy. AT ALL. The consumption of animal products correlates with the development of cancer, heart disease, diabetes, etc. All the major killers. The more of these products you eat, the more trouble you are in. Read about the China Study, watch Forks Over Knives, do SOMETHING. But please don't believe that you are consuming dairy products for your health. There is nothing healthy whatsoever about what the animal industry is doing to you via your palate. All they care about is their bottom line.

You're no doubt aware that The China Study has been totally debunked? Of course you are.

kelseyhere

When I was growing up in UK we raised pigs and chickens. The chickens were "free range" and had access to the grass and garden to get all the little extras that they needed. The yolks of the eggs they produced were bright yellow and stood up in the white as healthy eggs should. The pigs had their purchased pig meal from the mill but we also supplemented that with waste from the hotel business as well as the leftovers from the local fish and chip shop.... Not sure what they used to fry in but I am betting it might have been lard..... We always got top price for our pigs when they went to auction at market and as soon as the butchers knew they were from our farm the bidding started to go way up. Just saying! It seems that animal production has always used leftovers of some kind for food. Not saying I agree with it as I have never done any kind of study on how it impacts the health of the animal. I am suspecting it would depend a whole lot on the amount fed and for how long. Have to say, I envy those cows being fed chocolate as part of their diet LOL!!! (Just kidding!!)

I would suspect that when you we're growing up there was less processed foods being consumed and served at the hotel, so the scraps your pigs got we're probably more natural than the scraps they get today.

Thanks to everyone who has contributed so far, this is an interesting discussion.

Lissakaye81

There are some good documentaries on netflix on this. One study I saw was talking about a correlation between grass fed vs grain fed and e-coli. Yes there are some serious problems concerning cow diet and direct results from food sources such as mad cow disease (a prion), which is from feeding cows ground up cow. Prion are malformed proteins and cannot be killed by cooking, they are kind of like a cross between cancer and a virus but not alive, yet can reproduce. There are many other prions developing. Also my uncle used to work for foster farms raising chicken on the industrial scale. Everyday he would go out and pick up all the dead chickens, save them and they would get ground up and turned into chicken feed. So some practices are not just with chickens. I am sorry I cant remember the name of the documetaries, one is Food INC i believe. Also checkout systemic pestacides.

JoniM205

Our cows eat grass. Cows have the digestive enzymes to benefit from eating grass - humans can't survive on it. Cows do NOT have the enzymes to digest junk food. And it's true, corn is not natural to their diet. It's just a filler.

True grass fed beef is the best, but it's like $8 a pound for hamburger!!! We're pretty lucky to be able to raise our own beef.

onehurt

Grew up on a farm and my Dad still raises cattle. They are in the pasture when there is grass to eat, fed hay and silage when the calves are fattened up for going to market on the corn silage,supplements, soybean meal for protein, and hay. The cows are also fed hay and silage during the winter when there is no pasture and to help maintain them in a healthy condition through the winter. Some of the best beef you can eat! No comparison to what you get in the grocery stores! I don't know anybody around here that feeds any of that stuff, but mostly family farmers around here!

RavenhairedWoman

Cattle eat grass naturally. Even corn isn't completely good for them it is just cheaper than rotating the herd to a new feeding ground to only eat grass. Cows have a four chambered stomach and inside their stomachs are an organism that enables the cow to be able to break down the cellulose of the plant fibers. This process is completed with the help of chewing their cud and the four chambers of their stomachs of course. Cattle that are fed corn don't get the chance to "chew their cud" and the corn allows them to pack on extra fat. So corn fed cattle will have meat that is more marbled because they have a higher body fat content.

Hearing things like this story is why I usually prefer to have venison as my main red meat. Venison (deer meat) is naturally leaner because deer usually feed on only plant matter, the way cattle should be. They are also more transient than cattle and when the populations are properly managed they are less prone to disease than cattle. It is hard work hunting, butchering, and cleaning venison but it is well worth it when I know that no one has pumped that deer full of hormones.

slkehl

You're no doubt aware that The China Study has been totally debunked? Of course you are.

My theory is that anyone referencing the China Study as something to draw valid conclusions from has not actually read the full China Study. Or they've never taken basic stats, which means they wouldn't be able to understand it even if they had read it.

Correlation does not equal causation, people.

kristengraham

Not all farmers feed their cows such foods. I spend a lot of time on a farm (as my bf is a farmer) and our cows eat grass, hay, and some minerals. And farmers put manuer... liquid fertilizer... and many other chemicals on their fields to make the hay grow better. And the cows eat that hay all winter long.

Now, I do have pigs as well. They typically are fed corn mash (which several months ago was $20 per hundred I believe) but whenever there are leftovers they get "slop." Sometimes I can get bread/milk from local stores that is going out of date and has to be pulled off the shelf. But really, think about it... pigs have been eating "slop" for many many years.