If there's such a thing as a more Eco-friendly meat, Justin Grady believes his miniature Herefords are it.

The smaller, compact cows are about half the size of regular cattle.

Grady says "Whodini" weighs about 1,000 pounds. Grady is about 5 feet 10 inches and the mini cow came up to Grady's hip.

"A full sized bull would be about 3,000 pounds. Everything about these mini Herefords is smaller, more compact," Grady said.

Since 1996, Grady has been raising the smaller cows on his J Bar W Ranch in the town of Elizabeth. Grady says because of their relatively small size, the mini Herefords leave a smaller carbon "hoof" print on the environment.

"They require less land to graze because they eat less than full sized cattle. They produce less methane gas and because they weigh less they put less stress on the soil, so erosion doesn't happen as quickly," Grady said.

They may be smaller in stature but they do pack plenty of meat. Grady says one of his mini Herefords could provide enough beef for a family of four for a year. He believes mini cow is quickly becoming the meat of choice for today's beef lover.

"Everybody still wants beef but they just want it in a smaller portion. Nobody wants to walk in a restaurant and say, 'I want a 40 ounce porter house,' you know? It's: 'I want a 10 ounce petite,'" Grady said.

As the cost of feed continues to rise, more ranchers are looking to downsize to the miniature Herefords. According to the International Miniature Cattle Breeds Registry there are now roughly 300 mini Hereford breeders in the United States compared with only about two dozen less than a decade ago. The demand for these small cows is apparently getting bigger.