Grass-fed "natural" beef might be right behind range-fed chickens as a new niche market, according to researchers in a new study funded by the UC Davis-based UC Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program. These cattle would never see a feed lot, which is typically where they would end their last 90 to 120 days eating high-energy corn and food byproducts. Instead, they would be raised entirely on family and rural ranches, says Glenn Nader, livestock and natural resources farm advisor in Yuba, Sutter and Butte counties. Nader is working with Dave Daley, a professor at California State University, Chico, whose previous research showed strong consumer acceptability of grass-fed beef. "Our new study will provide more in-depth information to determine if consumers will eat grass-fed natural beef, whether raising it will be economically feasible, and whether we can develop useful marketing plans for producers," Nader says. Because of meat packer consolidation, small and mid-sized family ranchers have few marketing options, and many have left the business, selling small parcels of their land as "ranchettes," according to Daley. Grass-fed beef would be a regional product, marketed through community-based packing plants in Northern California.