Beef is often produced with injections of hormones and antibiotics, but organic beef is raised without any chemical additives. Organic cattle must be fed only natural forage and have access to fresh air, water, and sunshine.
Beef is produced commercially in a number of ways. One of the most common methods of beef production is to keep cattle on pasture for most of their lives, then move them to a feedlot for the final few months. Throughout their lives beef cattle are often given injections to stimulate growth and antibiotics to treat or prevent disease, especially when they are crowded together in a forage area. Beef that is raised without the use of any type of chemical additives, including antibiotics, is considered organic beef.
Usually, beef cattle are injected with growth hormones in some type of operation in the United States, Canada and some other countries, in order to promote more efficient feed conversion and thus make the operation more financially effective. Many people worry that the hormones linger in the meat and could affect the people who eat it. Beef that has been treated with hormones cannot be imported into some areas of Europe, due to cancer concerns. Organic beef farmers don’t use hormones in their cattle, instead relying on sound husbandry and management practices to produce their beef.
Antibiotics are another cause for concern in many conventional beef cattle operations, as trace amounts of antibiotics can be found in the meat long after the drugs have been used. The use of various types of antibiotics is routine in many places and the medicines are injected independently of the animal. This is done partly to reduce the chance of disease in cattle and partly because antibiotic injections help cattle gain weight more quickly in many cases. Organic meat farmers don’t use antibiotics at all, so buyers of this type of meat know they aren’t being exposed unnecessarily.
Some beef producers feed their pellets recycled plastic pellets instead of natural fiber and foods that contain animal by-products, including powdered beef parts. Organically raised cattle should never be fed 100% non-vegetarian feed. Ruminants are not meant to eat meat and such practices are believed to help spread serious diseases such as mad cow disease. Farmers who produce organic beef feed only natural forage, organic hay and organic grains and supplements.
In general, cattle raised to produce organic meat should lead lives as close to natural as possible, which generally means they are raised on pasture and not in isolation. They must have free access to fresh air, water and sunshine. All of their foods must be organically produced, which means the organic meat must be fed only grass and hay that are free of pesticides and herbicides. Calves that will be reared as organic beef must come from cows that start an organic diet several months before the calf is born.
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