My local supermarket has dropped Laura's beef; apparently Laura wasn't able to substantiate the fat % in her beef and some other issues.  The market began carrying Maverick Ranch "natural" beef, which is the official supplier to the US Olympic Training Centers.  

The brochure says no antibiotics, steroids, pesticides...each steer is indiv. tested in their lab.  

I called the rancher who owns the company and we talked for an extended time about the beef.  His name is Roy Moore, 1.800.497.2624, and I have his permission to discuss our conversation with you.  

Roy said that he has had conversations w/ Laura and her co-owner re. the fact that although they sell bulls, steers and heiffers, their ground beef is made up entirely of bull meat.  The bulls have 1,000 times more estrogen (and also more testosterone) than steers, which Maverick uses.  Heiffers can also be very high in hormones depending on when in their ovulation cycle they are killed.  

We talked about pesticides.  Roy only uses cattle that are raised west of Kansas because cattle raised in high rainfall areas have been exposed to more pesticides.  We got into the organophosphate discussion and he expressed a very real concern that pesticides in the US are so deeply intrenched in our food supply that it's hard to get away from them.  All the Maverick meat is tested - ea. steer - for pesticide residue, steroids and antibiotics.  If you buy their meat and a commercial lab finds any antibiotics, steroids, or pesticides in it, they will refund 20 times your purchase price and pay for the cost of the lab (up to 1K).  

The Maverick cattle is mostly Salers (the breed) which is grass fed on 80 acres or more per animal in Idaho, but they also buy some cattle from other ranches that meet their specifications.  All of their beef is very low sat fat.  Then the downside:  each steer is supplemented with corn for 120 days.  We had a nice little talk about this...Roy was raised on a ranch in Montana and only ate pure grass fed beef for 25 yrs. and I think had some appreciation of omega3/6 ratios, etc. but appears to think that the public is not yet ready for the texture (dry) and the taste (a little wild) of pure pasture meat.   

He emphasized that to be really sure I was getting what I wanted, I should find a rancher willing to sell me a grass fed only steer that was raised only in the West on non-irrigated pasture and killed at about 18 mos.  He also said, out of nowhere, that I should stay away from soy (no kidding).  

Anyway, it was an interesting conversation.  He appears to be very focused on the environment - lots of foundations set up to ensure the survival of grasslands.  I suggested there was a market for Western grass fed beef that did not have any grains and he said he would welcome input from others.  So, I'm relating this to you, with his permission.  

Roy Moore
e-mail:  [log in to unmask]
1.800.497.2624

Kath