12 S G M A G A Z I N E | S P R I N G / S U M M E R 2 0 1 9 B U S I N E S S + C U LT U R E 13 Grady Ranch Is on the Menu Grass-fed Beef: A Healthier, More Flavorful Option What’s for dinner? The summer months are the perfect time to fire up the grill, and though the U.S. beef market has experienced a sales decline in the past decade, Americans still consume approximately 58 pounds of meat per capita. A food trend that continues to emerge is the growing preference for grass-fed beef. According to Nielsen data, retail sales of labeled grass-fed beef went from $17 million in 2012 to $272 million in 2016. GRIGORYANFOODSTUDIO.COM AGRICULTURE The jump in preference to grass-fed beef is good news for Grady Ranch, a fourth-generation farm located near Whigham, a small Southwest Georgia community in Grady County. Purchased in the 1970s by Glynn West, who also owned a farm in nearby Mitchell County, Grady Ranch has been family-owned for decades. West’s youngest son, Bill, and son-in-law, Bob Holden, managed Grady Ranch as a dairy farm. In the early 1990s, Holden’s son, Bobby, joined the family dairy operation. When Bob decided to retire, Bill and Bobby started transitioning Grady Ranch from dairy to a grass-fed beef operation. The uncle and nephew team are joined by their wives, Renee West and Catherine Holden, in managing Grady Ranch’s continued growth. “The dairy industry was changing,” Bill says. “To continue being profitable, we would have to double or triple the size of our dairy operation.” The first herd of Black Angus cattle arrived at Grady Ranch in 2012, and today, more than 500 animals roam freely in pastures on 1,000 acres. Grady Ranch uses a New Zealand rotational grazing system, where paddocks (an enclosed field) are divided so the herd can consume available grass in one to two feedings before rotating to a new section. “Visually you think of a pie and the paddocks are the slices,” Bobby says. “There are enough paddocks to ensure 18 to 21 days for a complete cycle. The grass is at its optimal nutritional value during the 18 to 21-day window.” The adage “you are what you eat” also applies to cattle. The type of grass the animals consume determines the taste and quality that is produced. “Grass-fed beef coming from different parts of the country will taste different, mainly because of the grass they feed on,” says Bill, who works with forage production management experts at the University of Georgia in Tifton and University of Florida in Marianna to maintain Grady Ranch’s grazing system. “We use a proprietary blend of grasses which include Bermuda, Bahia, Rye, Tift 85, Clover, and Perennial Peanut.”