Free range the damn cows!

It's healthier and better for the short lives of the cattle. Don't get me wrong I like steaks etc. But my mother has proceeded to raise her own beef the last three years, and honestly it tastes great and we actually make some money off the damned animals. And that's one or two cows a year.
I don't the differences for large herds, but I would assume that if a small family of six can raise a few cows a year and make some money off it, then so can the meat markets.

I remember 1) the first time my family raised a male calf for food. We spoke of "Joe burgers"; little did we know! (Most of that steer ended up as burgers); 2) the year my father planted "Sudan grass" in the pasture and let it grow to cow-height before he let them (two-plus maybe a calf) into it--they would eat down the field, which re-grew to the same height before their grazing returned.

My other memory of that period involves the clapper rail: I had ridden on the manure-spreader several times when I heard its characteristic "clack-clack-clack" coming from the marsh grass when I knew we weren't spreading manure. It was the very secretive clapper rail! Eventually I actually saw one.

I second Michweek.  Grass fed cattle and beef are a good source of Omega 3 which, it turns out, is grossly lacking from the American diet. It is estimated that a Omega 6 to 3 ratio should be from 4 to 1 to 1 to 1.  What we have here is an average of a 17 to 1 ratio.  This imbalance is very likely the reason we have an epidemic in obesity in children as well as all the inflammatory diseases.