Pasture-raised describes where the animal lived: on pasture, not in a feedlot. Grass-fed describes what it ate: forage, though only "100% grass-fed" or "grass-finished" guarantees no grain. Organic describes what it was given and how its feed was grown: certified organic feed, no antibiotics, no added hormones, and a minimum of 120 days a year on pasture. An animal can be any one of these without being the other two. Organic beef can be grain-finished. Grass-finished beef can be raised with antibiotics. Pasture-raised beef can be fed grain in the last months.
The rest of this guide takes each claim you will see on a farm's website or a package, in rough order of how often it appears, and says what it verifies, who verifies it, and what it leaves open.
The three big ones
Pasture-raised
What it means: The animal lived on pasture or range and was not finished in a feedlot. Who verifies it: Nobody, officially. The USDA has no definition of the phrase for beef; the Food Safety and Inspection Service approves it on labels case by case, from paperwork. What it leaves open: Feeding. A pasture-raised animal may have been fed grain on the pasture to finish. This directory's own definition is laid out here.
Grass-fed
What it means: Less than you would think. Nearly all cattle eat grass for their first year, so an unqualified "grass-fed" can describe an animal that was grain-finished. "100% grass-fed" and "grass-finished" mean forage only after weaning. Who verifies it: Since the USDA withdrew its grass-fed standard in January 2016, no government program does. The American Grassfed Association certifies farms to a forage-only, pasture-only, no-antibiotics, no-hormones standard with audits. Process-verified programs such as IMI Global's Where Food Comes From audit a producer's own written claim. What it leaves open: Antibiotics and hormones, unless the farm says otherwise; whether the animal was ever confined. The full story is in grass-fed versus grass-finished.
USDA Organic
What it means: The animal was managed organically from the last third of gestation, fed 100 percent certified organic feed, never given antibiotics or growth hormones, and, as a ruminant, had a grazing season of at least 120 days during which it took at least 30 percent of its dry matter intake from pasture. Slaughter stock may be finished off pasture for up to 120 days, or a fifth of the animal's life, whichever is shorter. Who verifies it: A USDA-accredited certifier, with annual inspection. This is the most rigorously enforced label on the list. What it leaves open: Finishing. Organic grain is grain; organic beef is very often grain-finished. Organic also says nothing about whether the farm is local, small, or family-owned.
Animal-welfare certifications
These describe how the animal was treated and housed. They overlap with pasture-raised but are not the same claim.
- Animal Welfare Approved (A Greener World). Requires animals to be raised on pasture or range for their whole lives on independent family farms, with audits. Of the welfare labels, it is the one that most directly implies pasture-raised beef.
- Certified Humane. Sets space, handling, and slaughter standards. Its base standard for beef cattle permits feedlot finishing under conditions; it offers a separate pasture-raised designation. Read which one the farm holds.
- Global Animal Partnership (GAP). A tiered standard, Step 1 through Step 5+. Steps 4 and above require a pasture-centered life; Step 5+ requires the animal spend its entire life on one farm. A farm that names its step is telling you something specific. Canyon Meadows in Utah, for example, states on its website that it holds GAP Step 4 alongside its grass-fed verification.
Regenerative and land-based claims
- Regenerative on its own is a description, not a certification. It usually means rotational or adaptive grazing meant to build soil, and most farms using the word describe their practices honestly. It verifies nothing by itself.
- Regenerative Organic Certified (ROC). Requires USDA Organic as a baseline and adds soil-health, animal-welfare, and farmworker standards. Rare on beef, and meaningful where it appears.
- Savory Institute, Land to Market / Ecological Outcome Verification (EOV). Verifies measured outcomes on the land itself, such as soil and plant diversity, rather than practices. It is about the ranch, not the animal's diet.
- Real Organic Project. An add-on to USDA Organic that requires animals be raised on pasture and crops be grown in soil, created in response to hydroponic and confinement operations qualifying as organic.
Words that mean less than they sound
- Natural. Under USDA rules, "natural" means the meat was minimally processed and contains no artificial ingredients. It says nothing about how the animal was raised, fed, or medicated. Walk past it.
- No hormones added. Allowed on beef with documentation, and a real claim, since growth hormones are permitted in conventional cattle. It is not the same as organic or grass-fed.
- No antibiotics / raised without antibiotics. Also a documented claim. Many pasture farms treat a sick animal and then sell it outside their no-antibiotics program, which is the honest approach. Ask.
- Non-GMO. Refers to the feed. Grass is non-GMO by default, so this claim mostly matters for grain-finished beef.
- Product of USA. Since January 1, 2026, this means the animal was born, raised, slaughtered, and processed in the United States. Before that date, imported beef repackaged here could carry it. It is now a real claim; it is still only about origin.
- Local, family farm, sustainably raised. Descriptions, not claims. Usually true, never verified.
How to read a farm's website
Most farms in this directory hold no certification at all, and that is not a mark against them. Certification costs money and time, and a farm selling forty halves a year to neighbors has little reason to pay for an audit its customers can do themselves by driving over. What matters is whether the farm says specifically what it does.
A strong description names the feed, the finishing, the medication policy, and the processor, and it names any certifier by name so you can check. A weak one leans on adjectives. The producer pages here reproduce each farm's own claims and certifications as published, and the state-page filters let you narrow by grass-finished, organic, AGA certified, and other stated claims. We record those claims; we do not audit them. The methodology page explains exactly what "verified" means on this site.
Sources: USDA Agricultural Marketing Service, National Organic Program livestock and pasture requirements (7 CFR 205.237 through 205.240); USDA AMS, Withdrawal of United States Standards for Livestock and Meat Marketing Claims, January 12, 2016; USDA FSIS, Voluntary Labeling of FSIS-Regulated Products with U.S.-Origin Claims, compliance date January 1, 2026; published standards of the American Grassfed Association, A Greener World, Humane Farm Animal Care, Global Animal Partnership, Regenerative Organic Alliance, Savory Institute, and Real Organic Project. Producer certifications are as stated on the producer's own website at the time of writing.