Many of us have grown up with a mental picture of cows and sheep grazing peacefully on idyllic green pastures when we think of dairy and meat production. If we’ve been lucky enough to be disillusioned, we’ve also discovered the reality of commercial cattle feedlots which are intensive forms of animal production. Feedlot enclosures is where cattle spend the last months of their lives being ‘finished’ by being fed concentrated, dense feed such as corn to promote rapid weight gain before slaughter.
Feedlots are a far cry from lush green pastures. Feedlot cattle require routine medications such as growth hormones and antibiotics to combat disease in cramped, stressful, over-crowded stalls and pens. They are unable to move freely to forage for grass which is natural behaviour and nutrition for cattle. We’re lucky to be aware of this because now we have the knowledge to make informed, conscious choices when buying meat.
The fact that some supermarket meat packaging specifically states that their meat and dairy comes from cattle not routinely treated with antibiotics speaks to the fact that this is the norm. The same goes for the label ‘grass-fed meat’ because the norm is grain-based feeds. But does grass-fed mean the quality of the meat is better and why should we choose it in preference to conventionally farmed cattle? We talked with farmer Koot Prinsloo, owner of Langside Farm and producer of Langside meats to find out.
The 11km Langside mountain range in Queenstown, Eastern Cape, gives Langside Farm its name. The aloes in their logo speak to the surrounding terrain of ironstone hills, savannah, thorn trees and aloes. It’s a 7th generation family business which started to focus solely on grass-, veldt- and pasture-reared cattle and sheep in 2015.
‘All our animals are free-roaming on natural grass, veld or pastures,’ says Koot. ‘They are not ever restricted to confined spaces such as feedlots and are able to browse for their own food.’
Participating farmers within a 120km radius must subscribe to the Langside Grass-fed Protocol. Some of the guidelines are:
‘The different kinds of grasses the animals feed on contribute to a specific taste profile of the meat. We’ve all heard of karoo-veldt lamb, well the same applies to the Komani region where the natural sweet veldt grows in the lower areas of Queenstown,’ says Koot. Similarly, near the Drakensberg, the natural veldt is sour grass, however the higher rainfall in the region makes it ideal to plant sweet dryland pastures that fattens up cattle during tough times.
‘We’re establishing a diversity of different tastes according to the land cattle feed in, a terroir for meat,’ adds Koot.
Apart from grass-fed cattle being leaner and therefore have less fat content, grass-fed beef contains considerably higher levels of Omega-3 fatty acids such as ALA (Alpha linolenic acid), the same essential fatty acid found in flax, as well as EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid), the same omega-3’s found in oily fish. These three essential fatty acids are necessary for good health, especially cardiovascular and brain health.
Compared to grains, grass has higher levels of important phytonutrients such as carotenoids – so the meat from grass-fed cows contains significantly higher amounts of carotenoids like beta-carotene and lutein in their meat.
Grass-fed beef contains higher levels of vitamin B and 3 times more vitamin E than grain-fed beef.
Apart from the above, intuitively it feels better to eat meat from an animal that’s led a natural, stress-free life, being nourished by the food it was born to eat.
‘Farming cattle in this way follows a natural, seasonal cycle, says Koot. ‘Manure contributes to regeneration of the land. Even the carcasses go back into the earth.’ The bones are dried and ground into bonemeal that helps fertilise the farm.
Langside Meats delivers to butcheries, delis, restaurants and also individuals. Samantha Skyring (Founder and CEO of Oryx Desert Salt) was so impressed with her personal order from Langside that she made contact with Koot and a new collaboration was created. The exciting news is that all Langside biltong and droëwors (dried sausage) is now being salted with Oryx Desert Salt. In celebration of this collaboration, a FREE Oryx Desert Salt grinder is included in the first 160 boxes ordered from Monday 16th September 2024. You can order online here.
It just makes sense that a premium grass-fed product like Langside Meats should be salted with a premium salt from the pristine Kalahari Desert.
‘I believe in adding value at source,’ says Koot. ‘reducing the number of links in the value-chain to keep the price down for our customers.’ Apart from making their own biltong and droëwors, Langside Meats is expanding their market for collagen, bone broth and tallow (rendered beef fat). Watch this space.
‘You know, when I decided I wanted to farm this way years ago, I became of student of Farmer Angus. He taught me so much and we’re great friends to this day. The more we spread this knowledge of natural farming, the more of us there will be practicing it.’
Let’s support local farming businesses that produce natural food that eats natural food. Make your choice and spread the word.
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