Grass is the key to delicious grassfed lamb.

Our border collie, Owain,

bringing the sheep to the barn

Our sheep enjoying a warm spring afternoon.

Here in the United States, people generally have strong opinions about the taste of lamb. Basically, either they love lamb or they passionately dislike it. People who don’t like lamb tell us its because they find it too strong and too fatty for their tastes.  Sadly, most of these people have formed their opinion based on their experiences with commercially raised, grocery-store lamb and in many cases, this lamb is strong and fatty. For the most part, only those of us who have eaten farmstead raised, grassfed lamb know what a delicacy this meat can be.  In our opinion (and that of our customers), quality lamb should be mild and  have little excess fat.  We have devoted ourselves to discovering the best way to raise this kind of lamb and we think we've found the way.

In our experience, producing quality lamb is dependent on both good genetics and good management. We raise Dorper sheep, a hair-sheep that originated from South Africa. Because dorpers are bred for meat only (and not for wool), they have specific traits that lend themselves to producing great-tasting lamb. For example, studies have shown that the diameter of wool in sheep is directly related to the intensity of flavor in the meat: The finer the wool the stronger the flavor; the coarser the wool the milder the flavor. Because Dorpers have hair instead of wool, their meat is very mild in flavor.

Another component influencing the flavor of lamb (or any meat) is the quality and quantity of intramuscular fat (also called “marbling”) found in the meat. Basically, animals with a great deal of intramuscular fat have a stronger flavor than those with less intramuscular fat. This is good up to a point, but since the amount of intramuscular fat continually increases as the animal matures, the older the animal when it goes to market, the stronger the taste of the meat. This is why “mutton” (meat from adult sheep) has such an overwhelming flavor.

Along the same lines, lambs that are too fat at market-time will also produce meat with a strong flavor. Most supermarket lamb falls into this category. These lambs are finished on large amounts of corn—which brings the lambs to market weight quickly, but also adds fat at the expense of muscle mass. The result is small cuts of meat with strong flavor and an overabundance of fat—i.e. the main reason so many Americans dislike the taste of lamb.

To make sure our lamb has the best possible flavor and texture, we strive to produce lambs that mature quickly while developing the optimum amounts of marbling and muscle mass. To this end, we finish our lambs on grass and their own mothers’ milk. The grass (versus grain) helps the lambs develop good marbling without adding too much fat to the edges of the meat. The added nutrition of ewe’s milk gives our lamb an extra measure of flavor and enhances the tenderness of the meat, while helping the lambs grow quickly to market weight.
 

It is interesting to note that to raise mild, yet flavorful grassfed lamb, not just any grass will do. Legumes like clover and alfalfa produce meat that has a stronger flavor, while mild-flavored meat comes from animals that graze on annual grasses like ryegrass and crabgrass, provided the grass is palatable and nutritious enough to help the lambs grow fast. We fatten our lambs in pastures planted with annual grasses, each selected for its palatability and nutritional benefits, both to the sheep and to the consumer. Recent studies have shown that the benefits of eating grassfed meats extend far beyond the incredible flavor to nutritional benefits far superior to those of grain-fed lamb.

Why Eat Grassfed Lamb?

Grassfed Lamb is Lower in Fat & Calories than Grain-Fed Lamb

A team of scientists from the USDA compared grassfed lambs with lambs fed grain in a feedlot. They found that "lambs grazing pasture had 14% less fat and about 8% more protein compared to grain-fed lamb." The researchers acknowledged that "consumer desires for healthier meats have shifted the emphasis to leaner, trimmer carcasses.." and that raising more sheep on pasture will "benefit our economy by reducing reliance upon expensive grain supplements..."

Grassfed Lamb is Rich in Lutein

Meat from sheep raised on pasture has twice as much lutein as meat from grain-fed sheep. Lutein is closely related to beta-carotene, but is absorbed more readily. Lutein reduces the risk of macular degeneration (a leading cause of blindness) and may also help prevent breast and colon cancer.

Grassfed Lamb is Good for Your Heart

Grassfed lamb is a rich source of Omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-3s are the "good fats" found in fish like salmon, in nuts, and in soy that are vital to our health. Omegs-3s, for example, are extremely good for your heart. People who have ample amounts of Omega-3s in their diet are less likely to have high blood pressure or an irregular heartbeat, and they are 50 percent less likely to suffer a heart attack.

Grassfed Lamb has the "CLA bonus"

Meat products from grassfed ruminants are the richest known source of "conjugated linoleic acid" or CLA. When ruminants are raised on fresh pasture alone, their meat contain from three to five times more CLA than products from animals fed conventional diets.

CLA may be one of our most potent defenses against cancer. In laboratory animals, a very small percentage of CLA --- a mere 0.1 percent of total calories ---greatly reduced tumor growth. In a Finnish study, women who had the highest levels of CLA in their diet, had a 60% lower risk of breast cancer than those with the lowest levels of CLA in their diet. Switching from grain-fed to grassfed meat and dairy products places women in this lowest risk category.