Excellent quality culinary beef is obtained under pasture feeding conditions. Young fattening cattle are predisposed for this purpose, above all the technology of suckler cows, from which weaners provide valuable raw material for slaughter or can be further fattened to a higher weight. Extensive fattening of cattle can include bulls or heifers as well as bullocks, whose meat is considered to be of better quality, while the animals themselves are better predisposed to efficient use of roughage. The use of pasture sward in the feeding of beef cattle has a very beneficial effect on meat quality. In contrast to feeding cattle silage and concentrated feedstuffs, meat from pasture-grazed animals has an increased content of unsaturated fatty acids, antioxidant components (CLA cis9 trans11, Iso-C15:0, β-carotene, B vitamins and others), and minerals including iron and zinc. In many countries in Europe and around the world, consumers are seeking this type of beef as a health-promoting food product ('green beef'). This aspect, as well as animal welfare, argues for greater use of pasture in animal husbandry, which has become one of the priorities in the European Union's agricultural policy. Pasture provides natural fodder which is valuable and adapted to the digestive physiology of ruminants. However, organising efficient pasture-based feeding of beef cattle is not easy. It requires knowledge and material input. Current trends in pasture use involve the application of innovative decision-support tools, mainly by controlling grazing with the help of the IoT (Internet of Things) system. A key element of this is the use of virtual pasture fences. Through GPS technology and wave signal receivers mounted on the animals' necks, it is possible to control the herd for better planning and organisation of grazing.
