Grass-Fed and Grass-Finished Bison

Grass-fed and grass-finished are useful descriptions, but consumers should still ask what a particular bison herd actually eats throughout the year.

Bison are grazing ruminants

Pasture grasses and other forage can form a major part of a bison diet. Stored forage such as hay can also be important when pasture is unavailable or conditions require additional feeding.

Grass-fed and grass-finished are not identical questions

A grass-fed description tells you something about the feeding system, while grass-finished focuses specifically on the finishing period before processing. The details behind a claim matter.

Season matters in Alberta

A forage-based system does not necessarily mean animals graze green pasture every day of the year. Alberta winters often require stored forage and different management.

Supplementation is worth asking about

A producer may use minerals, supplemental feeds or other nutritional strategies depending on forage quality and animal needs. Asking for the actual feeding program gives you more information than relying on a short marketing phrase.

Choose based on information, not assumptions

PureBeef does not rank one feeding system as automatically superior. Our goal is to make the production method understandable so consumers can decide what matters to them.