Herbal fattening.
Herbal fattening is considered the most common in animal husbandry. (At least on small and medium-sized farms). Thanks to the grass and hay meat has a balanced composition, contains a large amount of vitamins, minerals, and most importantly - has a pronounced taste. In addition, when the grass fattening hardly used food additives and frequently used antibiotics.
Of course, this type has its drawbacks: cows with pastures are much better developed muscles, it reduces the fat content and directly affects the structure of the meat. In cows of grass fattening it is impossible to control marbling, therefore, despite the obvious advantage, preference is given to grain fattening.
Grain fattening.
The increase in marbling is achieved by grain fed. Usually bulls are transferred to a grain diet from 50 to 180 days before slaughter.
Grain fattening allows you to control the growth rate and increase the content of adipose tissue. Such meat even without long aging soft and juicy.
Since grain isn't a common food for cows, for the prevention of inflammatory processes use a wide range of antibiotics. Grain diet reduces the amount of vitamins and minerals, and also leads to the fact that the meat becomes almost tasteless.
On an industrial scale, grain fattening allows for 12-16 months to get a bull weighing 500-600 kg, even without removing it from the stall. It takes several years to achieve this weight on grass fattening.