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Information on our Signature 100% Natural Grass-Fed Beef
Why Akaushi Wagyu Beef?
Texas Akaushi beef is raised with a comprehensive vertically integrated quality control and natural production system from conception to consumption that excludes the use of growth hormones. Akaushi cattle in our program are managed with minimum stress and treated in accordance to the USDA Humane Handling Standards and Guidelines. What's so unique about Akaushi cattle? Akaushi cattle produce meat that has a high amount of intramuscular fat – commonly known as marbling. It is healthier due to its unique fatty acid composition when compared to other domestic beef . Akaushi meat is very tender, juicy and flavorful and it is consider by the Japanese and many beef experts to be the most palatable, and yet healthy, beef in the world. These attributes make Akaushi beef more desirable than other meat.
Akaushi meat contains extremely high amounts of intramuscular fat or marbling with a fatty acid composition that is significantly lower in saturated fat and cholesterol and higher in monounsaturated fat, and Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA). CLA is a very beneficial and essential fatty acid in human nutrition that has been the subject of intensive worldwide research over the last 10 years. Studies in experimental models have shown CLA to slow the growth of a wide variety of tumors, including cancers of the skin, breast and prostate. Research has also found that CLA can help control insulin levels and reduce diabetes, as well as help to increase weight loss – especially in women's trouble areas, lowered cholesterol, regulated bone loss and reduced risk of heart disease.
Origin of Wagyu and Akaushi
The word Wagyu refers to all Japanese cattle by its direct translation of its two grammatical parts, "wa" and "gyu" meaning Japanese and cattle, respectively. The Wagyu cattle are the Japanese indigenous breeds, which have been subjected to genetic improvement over the last 90 years. Today, there are four breeds of Wagyu cattle, the Akaushi (Japanese Red), the Kryoshi (Japanese Black), the Japanese Polled, and the Japanese Shorthorn. The Akaushi breed is extremely uniform and consistent throughout the genetic lines for all carcass and palatability traits. Today, the uniformity of Akaushi carcass performance characteristics is superior to all Western beef cattle breeds. At Dove Creek Ranch, we raise a hybrid of Akaushi and Angus. Each generation represents an increase in the proportion of Akaushi to Angus.
Why 100% Natural Grass-Fed Beef?
The Health Benefits of Grass Farming
Author: Jo Johnson "Why Grassfed is Best!"
Consumers have been led to believe that meat is meat is meat. In other words, no matter what an animal is fed, the nutritional value of its products remains the same. This is not true. An animal's diet can have a profound influence on the nutrient content of its products.
The difference between grainfed and grassfed animal products is dramatic.
First of all, grassfed products tend to be much lower in total fat than grainfed products. For example, a sirloin steak from a grassfed steer has about one half to one third the amount of fat as a similar cut from a grainfed steer.
In fact, grassfed meat has about the same amount of fat as skinless chicken or wild deer or elk. When meat is this lean, it actually lowers your LDL cholesterol levels.
Fat has 9 calories per gram, compared with only 4 calories for protein and carbohydrates. The greater the fat content, the greater the number of calories.
A 6-ounce steak from a grass-finished steer has almost 100 fewer calories than a 6-ounce steak from a grainfed steer.
If you eat a typical amount of beef (66.5 pounds a year), switching to grassfed beef will save you 17,733 calories a year—without requiring any willpower or change in eating habits. If everything else in your diet remains constant, you'll lose about six pounds a year. If all Americans switched to grassfed meat, our national epidemic of obesity would begin to diminish.
Extra Omega-3s - Although grassfed meat is low in "bad" fat (including saturated fat), it gives you from two to six times more of a type of "good" fat called "omega-3 fatty acids."
Omega-3 fatty acids play a vital role in every cell and system in your body. For example, of all the fats, they are the most "heart friendly." People who have ample amounts of omega-3s in their diet are less likely to have high blood pressure or an irregular heartbeat.
Remarkably, they are 50 percent less likely to have a serious heart attack.
Omega-3s are essential for your brain as well. People with a diet rich in omega-3s are less likely to be afflicted with depression, schizophrenia, attention deficit disorder (hyperactivity), or Alzheimer's disease.
Another benefit of omega-3s is that they may reduce your risk of cancer.
In animal studies, these essential fatty acids have slowed the growth of a wide array of cancers and kept them from spreading. Although the human research is in its infancy, researchers have shown that omega-3s can slow or even reverse the extreme weight loss that accompanies advanced cancer. They can also hasten recovery from cancer surgery.
Furthermore, animal studies suggest that people with cancer who have high levels of omega-3s in their tissues may respond better to chemotherapy than people with low levels.8 Omega-3s are most abundant in seafood and certain nuts and seeds such as flaxseeds and walnuts, but they are also found in grassfed animal products.
The reason that grassfed animals have more omega-3s than grainfed animals is that omega-3s are formed in the green leaves (specifically the chloroplasts) of plants. Sixty percent of the fat content of grass is a type of omega-3 fatty acid called alpha-linolenic or LNA.
When cattle are taken off grass and shipped to a feedlot to be fattened on grain, they lose their valuable store of LNA as well as two other types of omega-3 fatty acids, EPA and DHA. Each day that an animal spends in the feedlot, its supply of omega-3s is diminished.
At Dove Creek Ranch, we are committed to the humane and ethical treatment of animals. Our cattle are born and raised right here on the ranch, right up until the day they are humanely processed.
Calves are weaned at the proper time. The cattle's diet is monitored daily, insuring only 100% grass-fed beef makes it to your table.
We are also currently pursuing a certification from the Global Animal Partnership. They are an organization that strictly monitors the practices of livestock treatment. The guidelines encompass everything from cattle being born and raised in the same place to the way they are slaughtered and processed, even whether or not calves are branded, ear notched and castrated. Dove Creek currently qualifies at a level 4, and we hope to achieve level 5 within the next year. Be assured, your beef has had a very happy life before bringing nutrition and sustenance to you and your family.
How we Raise Our Cattle
