VALATIE, NY (APRIL 28, 2015)--Kinderhook Farm is the first farming business in the United States to be Certified Grassfed by AWA for sheep. This is the only certification and logo in the U.S. and Canada that guarantees food products come from animals fed a 100% grass and forage diet, raised outdoors on pasture or range for their entire lives, and managed according to the highest welfare and environmental standards on an independent family farm. While other grassfed labels exist, none has fully met consumer expectations when it comes to a grassfed and forage diet, environmental management, and farm animal welfare--until now. Kinderhook Farm also joins Grazin' Angus Acres as the second farm in New York state to gain Certified Grassfed by AWA its beef cattle.  

Lee and Georgia Ranney, and Steve Clearman and his wife, Renee, own and operate Kinderhook Farm in Valatie, NY, where they manage Dorper sheep and Black Angus and Red Devon cattle on 1,000 acres, feeding a 100% grass and forage diet. Although the farm has been certified by Animal Welfare Approved since 2009 for their high-welfare and environmental management practices, the team at Kinderhook Farm was eager to gain Certified Grassfed by AWA status for their grassfed sheep and cattle when the new program was launched in January. 

Georgia Ranney of Kinderhook Farm says:

"We've been working with AWA for several years now. We enjoy our annual audit as we find the questions about all aspects of how we raise our animals to be interesting and thoughtful and we like to have a fresh eye review our practices. Our customers appreciate the effort we put into raising animals in this manner and the AWA certification lets them know we take our job seriously."

As consumers wake up to the damaging impact that intensive farming is having on our health, the environment, and animal welfare, many are seeking truly sustainable alternatives--including grassfed meat. According to recent research, demand for grassfed beef has increased by 25-30 percent every year over the last decade.

But while demand for grassfed meat is sky-rocketing, not all grassfed certifications are meeting consumer expectations--and some continue to permit highly questionable practices. Under the USDA Grassfed label, for example, farmers can confine their cattle on dirt feedlots for long periods outside the growing season, or use growth hormones and subtherapeutic antibiotics, and yet still market the beef as grassfed--just as long as they feed the animals cut grass or forage. 

AWA's new Certified Grassfed label is the only grassfed program in North America to guarantee: 

• Ruminant animals raised outdoors on pasture for their entire lives, with an entirely grass and forage diet
• Animals raised according to the highest animal welfare and environmental standards in the U.S. and Canada
• High-welfare handling, transport, and slaughter of animals--including an annual review of slaughter facilities

AWA Director of Communications and Outreach Emily Lancaster Moose says, 

"No other grassfed label can match the breadth, integrity, and transparency offered by AWA's practical and achievable Certified Grassfed standards and certification procedures. We're proud to support farmers and ranchers like the team at Kinderhook Farm, and to help them promote their high-quality grassfed meat and sustainable farming practices to the public."

For more information about Kinderhook Farm's Certified Grassfed lamb and beef visit www.kinderhookfarm.com. 

For more information about the AWA Certified Grassfed label, read our AWA Certified Grassfed FAQs or visit AnimalWelfareApproved.org/standards /awa-grassfed. 

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