In the absence of an agreed national standard for the definition of grass fed, Overseer uses the terms of the draft AsureQuality Grass-Fed Standard to enable the definitions and sets a minimum criteria for feed management practices for the farming of bovine animals for dairy production.
The term “grass-fed” has a connotation of animals with daily access to pasture year-round; the standard promotes this whilst recognising that animal welfare is a priority and consideration must be given to environmental factors.
Grass-fed refers to a method of livestock farming where the animals are primarily raised on pastures, grazing on grass or other forage.
A grass-fed diet means that the animals are consuming mostly grass, forage or browse.
Grass means species of the Poaceae family (annual or perennial). There are several members in this group which are grown to produce grain (cereal grain crops); these are considered to be part of a grass-fed diet only when they have not yet produced hardened grains, or the grains have been harvested (removed so not available for consumption). Grass is included when fed as pasture or when harvested to be fed at a later date in any form (hay, baleage, silage etc).
Forage includes herbaceous broadleaf plants (also known as forbs) commonly found in pasture or grown as crops. This also includes legumes and brassicas.
Browse covers the tips of woody trees and shrubs that animals may consume when grazing.
Queries about the standard, and certification options should be addressed to AsureQuality.
Crops in OverseerFM which meet grass fed standards
Supplements in OverseerFM which meet grass fed standards
"Grass fed" feeds are used to determine which farms meet AsureQuality's Grass fed Standards, for more information see here