Testing & Traceability
Why guess when you can test?
• Most nutritional labels are based off of averages for that food product and can be manipulated by adjusting things like serving size.
• Many health claims, brand labels and ingredient lists use wording to imply a healthy product when it may not be the case.
• Individual production practices and their impact on nutritional value are not taken into account because adequate traceability and testing systems aren’t in place.
You need to be well informed to make an educated guess at the actual nutritional value of most products.
The only way to know is to Test!
We test our beef production at 6 different points as feedback to ensure that our process is working to provide the best outcomes for human and environmental health.
But don’t other farms do testing? How is Peony Farms different?
Most beef farmers, if they are doing any testing at all, are doing the standard soil and feed testing. We do that and more!
Soil Testing
Most Farms that do soil testing are using a hard acid soil test which oxidizes the nutrients in the soil and gives a static picture of soil health and nutrition. The problem is that soil is not static. We use a soil test that will show us the dynamic nature of the soil. This test uses reduction chemistry to allow us to see a much broader set of nutrition information as well as the relationships that are occurring between them in the soil.
SAP Testing
Most farms are guessing at the nutrition of their plants based off of their soil tests. We do regular testing of our plant leaves using a SAP test to make sure that our plants are healthy and getting all that they need. This way we can also make adjustments to their nutrition throughout each growing season to make them as healthy as possible.
Genetic Testing
Our beef is consistent and healthy because of the Piedmontese genetics that are used to produce it. So we test to ensure that our bulls have the Piedmontese tenderness gene which makes a consistently great eating experience and also contributes a healthy Omega fatty acid profile.
Feed Testing
Most farms that do feed testing are guessing at what the information means based off of research on average animal requirements. We don’t have a different method of testing our cattle feed but we do test every year and then we do follow up liver testing to make sure that the animals get what they need.
Liver Testing
Working with our nutritionist and vet we take a representative sample of our animals and the vet takes a small, quick, painless sample from the livers. These samples get sent off to a lab and tested for key nutrient and health criteria. This way we can ensure that our animals are getting what they need to be as healthy as possible
Product Testing
Not many people are testing their final products. We have sent our first samples off to the Bionutrient food association for their Beef nutrient density study to get this data from our products and compare to other beef that is available.
Traceability
We also have traceability so that you know exactly what you are getting. We deal with a small Alberta Provincialy Inspected processor who only processes our beef. This means that you are getting regenerative forage finished beef that has gone through our rigorous testing process every single time.
