Note that they say "grass-fed" not "free range." Grass-fed means the grass is harvested and then fed to the cows, so there's no reduction in the fuel/fuel exhaust needed for the transport of the grass to the cows. Grains have more calories than grass, so the cows don't need to eat as much grain as they would grass-- and the addition of growth hormones means they grow faster, so they can be slaughtered earlier thereby eating even less (and producing fewer gases as their life is shorter). And the "organic grass-fed" phrase could mean the grass itself is grown organically, so they may need to plant more of it as organic farmers often do. It's not clear whether "organic" is modifying the beef or the grass.
If the cows were free range, there could be fewer fuel/fuel exhaust needed since less grass or grain needs to be transported-- though that would be balanced out by the occasional need to round up the cows. Free range cows also give back to their environment with manure. The land they eat from is replenished and doesn't need to be laid fallow the same way crop land does. Free range land doesn't need to be (or very rarely needs to be) tilled or planted, saving fuel/fuel exhaust. The land is multi-use, benefiting multiple ranchers and often overflowing into park/hunting/logging/etc land. But free range doesn't work everywhere.
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Date: 2007-11-27 04:13 am (UTC)If the cows were free range, there could be fewer fuel/fuel exhaust needed since less grass or grain needs to be transported-- though that would be balanced out by the occasional need to round up the cows. Free range cows also give back to their environment with manure. The land they eat from is replenished and doesn't need to be laid fallow the same way crop land does. Free range land doesn't need to be (or very rarely needs to be) tilled or planted, saving fuel/fuel exhaust. The land is multi-use, benefiting multiple ranchers and often overflowing into park/hunting/logging/etc land. But free range doesn't work everywhere.