Quality and flavor
Animal
Welfare
Environmentally Friendly
Human Health Benefits
Why Grass Fed?
Quality/Flavor
Consistent and detailed pasture management produces flavorful, nutrient-rich, tender, grass finished beef. For quality beef, it is vital to ensure that the pasture/winter hay can supply all of the nutritional requirements of the herd through a detailed forage management program. Avoiding stress in the animals is another key to tender beef. Our cows are nourished and nurtured throughout their lives on beautiful Vermont pastures with every care taken to minimize their stress levels. A few cooking adjustments are essential to ensuring quality tender grass-fed beef. The meat is leaner than conventional meat and cooking time is 10-25% faster. Cooking temperatures should also be reduced by 10-15%; low and slow on the grill or in the oven will produce perfect results.
Animal Welfare
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Our cattle happily forage on lush Vermont grass within the Lower Champlain Valley & rocky foothills of the Green Mountains. Animal welfare is at the forefront of the grass fed beef model. While the climate allows, animals are always raised on pasture with freedom to roam and graze at their leisure. During the winter months, cattle are brought in out of the elements and raised in a barn setting, eating nutritious hay that has been preserved for the winter months. Cattle need to be handled to manage their health and well being, but by doing so quickly and efficiently, stress levels in the animals are minimized. Humane transfer of finished animals to the slaughterhouse is of utmost importance, and Hamilton Cattle Company works closely with their local slaughterhouse, The Royal Butcher, to ensure that animals undergo a peaceful transition to their final destination. This not only is our responsibility with regard to the animal, but by minimizing stress prior to slaughter, the flavor of the meat is maintained and not altered by the hormone adrenaline.
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Environmentally Friendly
Our goal is to ensure the best restorative and sustainable agricultural practices where plants and animals work symbiotically in a natural healthy food system that benefits our community, animals, and the environment. Through grazing, cattle expand the land available for food production by eating plants and converting them to nutrient dense high-quality protein on land that is not suitable for cultivated arable crops. In our grazing system, cows are moved frequently allowing the grass to recover quickly, develop strong roots and fresh shoots to capture more carbon from the air through photosynthesis. The pasture acts like a blanket preventing the soil from losing carbon to the air through oxidation. Cows’ feet are perfectly adapted to slice up dead plant material and push it firmly into the soil in direct contact with decomposing soil microbes that power carbon and nutrient cycling. Manure is nature’s balanced fertilizer; grazing evenly distributes this valuable resource creating a moist surface to feed soil microbes and naturally restore soil fertility, improve plant diversity, and improve wildlife habitat. As conscious consumers, we all want food that is better for people and for the environment. Through rotational grazing, resting pastures, soil regeneration, and kind animal husbandry, Hamilton Cattle Co. strives to improve the farmland they utilize and preserve it for generations to come.
Human Health Benefits
Grazing on pasture provides beef rich in the antioxidant vitamins A, B6, B12, D, and in beneficial minerals including Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Selenium, Sodium and Zinc; it is particularly high in beta-carotene, essential for the production of vitamin A, a powerful antioxidant protecting cells from free-radical and oxygen damage. 100% grass-fed beef has an ideal balanced ratio of omega 3:6 fatty-acids with up to 3 times the quantity of omega-3’s compared to their grain-finished cousins. Conjugated linoleic acid, (CLA) levels are 5 times higher in pasture finished beef and research is showing that these fats may be one of our best natural defenses to improve immunity and fight inflammatory diseases.
Beef is one of the most nutrient dense proteins available. Proteins help build and repair muscle, regulate blood sugar and hormones, build strong bones, and maintain healthy soft tissues. Grass-finished cows are also a clean and a healthy source of nutrient dense organ meat and are GMO and gluten free.
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