Eight years ago, my husband and I packed up our life in the city and moved to a farm in the Sunshine Coast Hinterland. We leased farming land and slowly started raising a herd of beautiful Black Angus cattle – learning absolutely everything there was to know about producing quality, grass- fed and finished beef along the way.
It was a huge change and a steep learning curve for me, but luckily Mark had a head start – having come from a family of butchers that raised their own cattle and studying at Agriculture college.
So, why make the change?
Well, it’s pretty simple. We discovered the incredible benefits of grass-fed beef. And once we knew how good grass-fed, slow-grown beef was, and how much healthier and tastier it was, we wanted to share it with everyone!
When it comes to buying beef, we want you to make the best possible choice – for your family and for Aussie cattle. Below are some key facts we think you should know:
- Grass-fed cattle have a good life
Farms like ours use a “slow-growing” method – where cattle graze 100% of the time on grass and spend their days mooching, socialising and basking in the sun. We just don’t think there is any comparison to the life lived by grass-fed cattle! - Slow-grown cows get more exercise.
Cattle are meant to mooove! Truly grass-fed, pasture raised cattle (like ours), get all the daily exercise they need, which lowers their stress levels to pretty much zero, builds great lean tissue and makes for healthier and happier eating for us humans when the time comes. - Grass-fed beef has the best balance of fats.
Our bodies need fats to function, and omega 3 and 6 are fats that we can’t make ourselves – we need to eat them. But scientists have found that if the ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 is more than 4:1, people start to experience health problems like arthritis, coronary heart disease and inflammatory ailments. Grass fed beef is generally 3:1 – a great balance. - Grass-fed beef is full of vitamins and fatty acids, including:
- CLA (Conjugated Lineoleic Acid) which is ONLY found in grass fed animals.
CLA is an essential fatty acid, and is said to help decrease the risk of cancer along with having other amazing properties. - Three times more Vitamin E than other beef.
Vitamin E is said to lower the risk of heart disease and cancer. - Four times more Vitamin A
Linked to good vision and necessary for bone development. - More beta carotene
An antioxidant that can help lower the risk of cataracts and macular degeneration. - Less saturated fat
- Fewer calories
It’s pretty easy to see how our passion started, right?
There’s just so much to love about quality, grass-fed beef, and we don’t think there is any substitute when it comes to feeding your family.
But, there is one important thing you should look out for when buying grass-fed:
Not all “grass-fed” beef is equal.
If you’re going to make the switch to healthier beef, you need to look for grass fed AND grass finished beef.
While butchers, supermarkets and meat packaging might loosely allude to grass feeding, that can really mean anything! In some cases, beef is being marketed as grass-fed when in reality, by the time it actually reaches your plate, the animal may have only been grass fed for a short time and not their whole lives.
That’s not the case with our beef.
We raise our cattle here, in and around Maleny. They live a life frolicking around our beautiful pastures, living on lush green grass, beautiful sunshine, clear mountain air and fresh clean water!
It sounds idyllic … because it is!
Then, when the time comes, we muster the cattle and transport them ourselves to a local, family owned-and run, accredited abattoir. We are a part of the process the whole way, ensuring our cattle are cared for from start to finish.
We sell our beef to families who want the tastiest and healthiest beef. And we sell direct, with no middlemen, so you can also enjoy the best value for money.
Our beef is never frozen. Instead, it’s butchered, cryovaced fresh in meal sized packs and delivered direct to you in our refrigerated transport.
While we don’t sell single servings of beef, we make it easy to buy reasonable quantities for most freezers… you can buy a whole beast, half, mixed quarter or a ‘taste’ mixed eighth. And delivery is free to Brisbane, Sunshine Coast, Gold Coast and Toowoomba!
In selling this way, nothing is wasted. It’s truly nose-to-tail farming.
We’re proud to be part of the movement back to slow-grown cattle farming, and we’re thrilled to offer our beef to families all over South-East Queensland.
While it’s been challenging at times, making this change and farming this way has been the best decision we’ve ever made. When you try our beef, we think you’ll agree!
Click here to learn more about the steps taken to bring a Maleny Black Angus steak to your plate, or here to get started with an order of your own.
Sue Menkens
