Pasture-finishing of bison improves animal metabolic health and potential health-promoting compounds in meat

With rising concerns regarding the effects of red meat on human and environmental health, a growing number of livestock producers are exploring ways to improve production systems. A promising avenue includes agro-ecological practices such as rotational grazing of locally adapted ruminants. Additionally, growing consumer interest in pasture-finished meat (i.e., grass-fed) has raised questions about its nutritional composition. Thus, the goal of this study was to determine the impact of two common finishing systems in North American bison-pasture-finished or pen-finished on concentrates for 146 d-on metabolomic, lipidomic, and fatty acid profiles of striploins (M. longissimus lumborum). Six hundred and seventy-one (671) out of 1570 profiled compounds (43%) differed between pasture- and pen-finished conditions (n = 20 animals per group) (all, P