Organic Meat Farming

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Everybody loves to eat meat and its part of our daily meals, but are you eating meats that are certified organic? If you are a meat lover and you want healthy foods that are naturally produced then you need to support products coming from organic meat farming.

At this point you will learn some important facts about organic meat farming.

Organic Meat Farming in Protecting the Environment

Meat is an essential part of our daily food consumption as it provides essential nutrients to our body like proteins. Meats coming from cows, pigs, and chickens are the most common types of meat that are widely available in the market. But most of the meats that are being sold are products coming from conventional meat farming which the animals are being treated with GMO’s or genetically modified organisms and growth hormones. According to food experts, these meat products might contain toxins or hazardous substances as a result of the use of antibiotics and chemical-based pest control programs like pesticides or herbicides.

The effect of the chemical-based compounds used in the conventional meat farming also extends to the environment, and this is the reason why the present government and other environmental organizations even in the international community supports organic meat farming as an alternative to the conventional method of meat production. In other words, the organic way of food production has great benefits to the human health as well as to the environment since it promotes natural methods of farming.

Conditions in Organic Meat Farming

Not all meat-producing farms can be classified as organic unless they meet the conditions as set by the Department of Agriculture and some of the standards are:

Disease control programs should be all natural wherein no animal should be injected with antibiotics (unless DA allows it under certain conditions). Natural disease-prevention methods like rotational grazing and clean housing are the suggested alternatives.
The animals should be fed naturally without the use of growth hormones or chemical additives, instead only organic feeds are allowed,
Animal welfare should be observed by giving them freedom to roam around the farm and not in the contained room.
Use of synthetic fertilizers and chemical-based pesticides are strictly prohibited.

Issues Concerning Organic Meat Farming

Although there are great benefits in organic meat farming, there are certain issues that bother organic farmers. First is on the cost of the whole operation where a big fund is needed for the overheads and maintenance of the organic farm. Since all the methods are natural, the growth of the animals is slower compared to conventional farming. Because of this, organic farmers can’t produce more meats as traditional meat farmers do and this result to high price of the meat products. Increasing the price of organic meats is practically needed for the reason that the extra cost will be used to be competitive with the other meat producers in the market. However, those conventional meat farmers who wished to shift into organic the Department of Agriculture can provide grants to assist them on this purpose.

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2 Comments

William said on May 23, 2011
Hello there, i am William from Ghana west-africa and i plan on starting an organic cattle farm. I will really appreciate it if you could tell me the needed capital and number of animals i need to start with?And the type of breeds i will have to consider? The final idea is to own one of the biggest abattoir in west africa. It is advisable to grow corn on the farm to be used to feed cattle? Thank you
F. Perkins said on February 12, 2012
I once more seek information on organic meat farming.. this will help in the establishment of my farm in Jamaica. Regards

Organic Meat Farming