Domestic, grassfed, goat meat is rapidly becoming the new darling of trendy restaurants on both the East and West Coasts according to New York Magazine’s website nymag.com. This goat meat is coming from established grassfed beef producers such as California’s Marin Sun Farms who graze the goats alongside their beef animals to improve their pastures. The goats eat grass seedheads, stems and brush that the cattle avoid. These grassfed goats are slaughtered at a younger age than imported goat meat which yields more tender and mild meat. Imported, frozen goat meat was described as frequently being "gamy and sticky." Chef Christopher Kostow of the Michelin two-starred Restaurant at Meadowood in the Napa Valley said the domestic goat meat was similar to grassfed lamb, but milder. "It’s better suited to summer flavors," he said. Left Bank restaurant in Larkspur, California, hosted a "head-to-tail Goat Night" in September featuring goat sausage, a rack of goat, and a braised goat shank dish. Famous chef Stephanie Izard opened her new Chicago restaurant The Girl and the Goat earlier this year which features goat meatballs and smoked goat pizza. In Brooklyn, New York, Fatty ‘Cue restaurant roasted a whole goat for a tasting event. Unfortunately, as with grassfed beef there is a major shortage of domestically goat meat. The first national goat meat conference was held in Tallahassee, Florida, in September to spur interest in increased production.

Beef calf numbers are at a 50 year low. The USDA reported that the feeder and stocker calf supply this year would be down by a million head from last year at 37.45 million. This is expected to put even more margin pressure on both stocker graziers and feedlot finishers. Currently, Cattle-Fax estimates that the feedlot finishing segment is 20 to 25% too big for the current size of the American cowherd. Between 2000 and 2009 grain finishers lost four billion dollars. The beef cow herd is down roughly 2.5 million head compared to ten years ago despite cow-calf profits throughout that whole time period. The number of beef replacements is currently down by 100,000 head from a year ago which insures a continuing future shrink in cattle numbers. The cowherd decline had been blamed upon a long-term drought in Texas and the Southeast but now that has ended and yet the national herd continues to shrink. Some analysts attribute the decline in cow numbers to the demographic aging of the producer base. Currently, half of America’s cow-calf producers are over 60 years of age and this average age is advancing every year due to the lack of younger entrants.

Many people have assumed that a lower fat milk is better for them but Eatwild.com reports a study published in the May issue of The Journal of Clinical Nutrition said that full-fat milk is actually better for you as long as it is grassfed. The Journal said that the more grassfed full-fat dairy products people consume the lower their risk of heart attacks will be. This is because 100 percent grassfed dairy products have up to five times more conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) than conventional dairy products. In this study of 3500 people, those with the highest levels of CLA stored in their body tissues had a 50 percent lower risk of heat attack than those with the lowest levels of CLA. The CLA level in milk is lowered by the feeding of even small amounts of grain so consumers should always specify 100 percent grassfed milk products.

Entertainment Tonight said on July 22 that grassfed beef will serve as the main course at Chelsea Clinton’s wedding rehearsal dinner. The rehearsal dinner will be held at Grasmere Estate in a stone barn near Rhinebeck, New York, on July 30. The wedding will be held the following day at Astor Courts, a 13,000 square foot Beaux Arts pavilion in Rhinebeck.

While the major hamburger chains seem determined to price their top hamburgers at a dollar or less, a fast growing trend are high end hamburgers made from grassfed beef and which sell for between four and six dollars. One of these is Elevation Burger which is headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. In addition to using only organic, grassfed beef in their burgers, they also fry their French fries in olive oil. Such high end chains currently have only about two percent of America’s $65 billion burger market but Chicago restaurant consultant, Darren Tristano, predicts double digit growth for the upscale burgers for at least the next few years.