The meat section at your grocery store is full of labels. You’ll find everything from “grass-fed” to “free-range” to “organic” to “pasture-raised.” More often than not, the cut of meat you pick up might even have a combination of these labels. It can be difficult to understand what each label means, let alone the kind of farming practices you, as a consumer, want to support. In this post, we’ll give you a breakdown of a label we wear with pride: pasture-raised.

Labels Matter More Than You Think

The labels on your meat products can tell you a lot about how the animal was raised, but not all labels paint a full picture. For example, when you come across a label that says “free-range”, you might imagine that the animal spent their entire life outdoors. That isn’t necessarily true. All it means is that an animal had access to the outdoors at some point, but how much time they spent there is unknown, and it doesn’t account for the type of diet they ate or the amount of space they had to roam.

Having “grass-fed” as a label is becoming increasingly more popular – and for good reason! Cows and sheep are ruminants, and their natural diet consists of 100% grass. That being said, meat with a “grass-fed” label stamped on the front doesn’t guarantee that the animal wasn’t still fed within a feedlot system. Pasture-raised, on the other hand, speaks to how the livestock actually lived on the farm. When meat is both “grass-fed” and “pasture-raised,” like Atkins Ranch lamb, you can feel confident knowing that the animal spent its life grazing on open pastures and eating as nature intended it to.

Why It Matters for the Animals

There is a significant difference in the quality of life of an animal raised on an open pasture. They’re less stressed, less prone to disease, and able to live a natural lifestyle. This is good for the animals before and after they’re processed, as high quality of life is reflected in the meat produced. Pasture-raised 100% grass-fed lamb is richer in nutrients, higher in omega-3 fatty acids, and more flavorful than meat from their grain-fed counterparts. A natural life on open land means naturally better nutrition, and it comes through in every bite.

Choosing With Confidence

Our lambs graze freely across New Zealand’s lush pastures, so when you read “pasture-raised” on our products, you can feel confident knowing you’re making a good choice. Our 100+ family farms are committed to doing right by their animals and land. That means no grain, no feed lots, and no shortcuts. At Atkins Ranch, we believe in farming with care, transparency, and a genuine respect for our animals.