Grass-fed or not?
Producers who keep cattle on pasture began asking the Agriculture Department in the late 1990s to set standards to help sell their beef as truly grass-fed.
That was their first mistake. Now the USDA is proposing rules, and nobody is happy about them. The cavil about silage is irrelevant; in much of the country, you aren't going to have grass to feed all year long. But if they don't have to be on pasture most of the time, you're developing an irrelevant label. In any case, why can't grass-feeders get together and start their own certification? Why should it be government's job, and specifically a branch of government bought and paid for by agribiz?
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