Beef from Shorthorn Cattle Long-grazed Naturally on 100% Domestic Feed Marketed

The Association to Preserve the Earth, a Japanese non-governmental organization (NGO) promoting the spread of organic farming and farm products, launched sales of long-grazed Shorthorn beef raised on 100 percent domestically-grown feed, on May 17, 2004. Labels claim the beef is "domestic, two-season grazed Shorthorn."

The Shorthorn cattle are grazed for 320 days, twice as long as cattle are usually grazed, and fed with more grass in an optimal environment for herbivorous animals. Their meat is characterized by being lean, juicy and low in fat.

The feed self-sufficiency rate in the Japanese livestock industry was 26.2 percent as of 2000, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. Although the NGO had already sold Shorthorn beef grown with 70 percent domestic feed, it successfully shifted to 100 percent domestic feed, a mix of barley, soybeans and bran, after seven years of trials. The self-sufficiency rate in this case is thus 3.5 times higher than the national average.

Livestock products labeled as "domestic" are in fact often from animals raised on imported feed. The effort to achieve 100 percent domestic feed has drawn attention because self-sufficiency in livestock feed leads to environmental conservation in terms of resource recycling as well as energy efficiency in transport.



Posted: 2004/08/11 09:29:44 AM
Japanese version