Grass-Fed Angus

About Angus

The Aberdeen Angus, or simply Angus, descends from a Scottish breed of hardy beef cattle native to the counties of Aberdeenshire and Angus in northeastern Scotland. Angus cattle thrive on pastures and forage-based farms, delivering high beef yields with marbling appropriate for tenderness and nutritional benefits.

At Headwater Farms, our Angus cattle are free from the use of hormones and antibiotics, and are grass-fed ― key differentiators which help distinguish Headwater Farms Angus beef not only for taste but for nutrition/health as well.

Grass-Fed Benefits

For many decades, the beef industry has fed cattle high-energy, grain-based diets. This trend began after World War II, with feedlots having access to a post-war oversupply of grain. Cow-calf producers would typically raise their cattle to roughly 700 pounds and then sell them to a feedlot where they would be fed grain until reaching around 1,000 pounds ― a procedure commonly referred to as "finishing." Commonly, beef is fed grain in feedlots for at least 90 days.

By contrast, grass-fed beef refers to cattle having a diet limited to grasses, rather than being finished in a feedlot. Studies have found that such grass-fed beef offers several benefits versus feedlot-finished beef:

The overall fat content of grass-fed beef is low, similar to that of skinless chicken²

  • Grass-fed beef supplies two to six times more beneficial Omega 3 fatty acids than found in feedlot beef¹
  • It is higher in conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) than grain-fed beef. CLA is a fatty acid with significant potential for positive health benefits¹
  • Grass-fed beef is rich in the antioxidant vitamin E, as well as the amino acids L-carnitine and carnosine¹
  • Pasture-raised, grass-fed cattle are not confined to disease-prone feedlots requiring antibiotics. Headwater Farms grass-fed cattle are free-range, free of growth hormones and antibiotics²
  • Cattle that are grass-fed have fewer health problems, including less stress and anti-social behaviour²
  • Grass-fed beef benefits the environment through decreased soil erosion and carbon footprint, increased soil fertility, improved water quality and improved human health (due to reduced antibiotic use)³
  1. Dr. Lopez-Jimenez, 2018. “Grass-fed Beef: What are the heart-health benefits?”
  2. Beck, Lelsie, 2018. “Is Grass-fed more Nutritious than Regular Beef?”
  3. Johnson, J, 2018. “The Benefits of Grass Farming”

100% Certified Angus Beef

All Headwater Farms Angus cattle are pedigreed, having RFID tags from the Canadian Angus Association identifying them as such. The Angus Tag also denotes compliance with the Canadian Cattle Identification Agency, a non-profit, industry-led organization established to promote and protect animal health and food safety concerns in the Canadian cattle herd.

In addition, all Headwater Farms beef products are certified by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.