"Voluntary Standards for Grass-Fed Livestock?"

"Bill Sessions, assistant deputy administrator for the USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service, refuted on Monday a report saying the agency would issue voluntary standards for grass-fed livestock in the next few weeks.

Proposed grass-fed standards were released for public comment in May 2006 and would verify that livestock certified as grass-fed be given a diet that is mother's milk or 99 percent grass, legumes and forage, which is anything taken by browsing or grazing.

Grass-fed beef producers have waited years for the USDA to develop certification standards and procedures, like the organic certification and seal, to distinguish grass-fed animals from conventionally raised animals. However, some believe that if the proposed standard is made law, consumers could see feedlot beef labeled as grass-fed beef."

Read the article