Who will buy US grain-fed beef anyway?

Most US beef is grain-fed, not grass-fed. That means cattle are typically raised on pasture for part of their lives, then finished on corn or other grains in feedlots to accelerate growth and marbling.

So if US beef is imported to Australia, it’s highly likely to be corn-fed, unless specifically labelled otherwise.

I can still remember encountering grain-fed steaks for the first time in North America in the late 70s and I can’t say it was a patch on Aussie grass-fed meat. Not a patch. It tasted different, looked different and even felt different as the steak knife easily sliced through it.

But we – except the non-meat eaters amongst us – will now get the chance, it seems, to answer the taste question for ourselves. And you can bet on it, there will be a downward price inflection in the early days of US beef sales to entice the price-conscious Aussie shopper to try out the newly imported product.

Credit Shannon Murison and Unsplash

As we all know by now –

• Australia recently lifted biosecurity restrictions on US beef imports after a decade-long review.
• Despite the regulatory change, industry experts are predicting it’s unlikely we’ll see much US beef on Aussie shelves.
• Australia’s domestic beef is overwhelmingly grass-fed, and local producers dominate the market — over 99% of beef consumed here is Australian.

Why does the difference matter?

As I have intimated –

• Grass-fed beef tends to be leaner, with a different flavour, profile and nutritional makeup (more omega-3s).
• Corn-fed beef is often more marbled and tender, but may contain more saturated fat.

So unless a US product is marketed as grass-fed — which is less common and more expensive — it’ll almost certainly be grain-fed.

And unless the US beef is going to be sold at a loss-leading price, it may not make much of a dent in the local, Aussie market.

The worry for Aussie beef producers, I suppose, is that Aussie cool drink manufacturers probably once thought Aussies would never develop a taste for Coke or Pepsi, or any other US palate pleaser you care to name, either.

The message being: Never discount the power of US cultural imperialism!

And get ready for a slew of adverts from American Madmen along the lines of –

• “Grain-fed, stateside-bred — so tender it apologises before you cut it.”
• “Skip the snags. Say g’day to prime US grain-fed: the steak that speaks fluent Aussie.”
• “Beef so smooth it could run for president… but it prefers your grill.”

You’ve been warned!

* By Michael Barker, Editor, Fremantle Shipping News

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