Feedlot
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A feedlot or feedyard is a type of animal feeding operation (AFO) which is used for finishing livestock, notably beef cattle, prior to slaughter. Large beef feedlots are called Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs). They may contain thousands of animals in an array of pens. Most feedlots require some type of governmental permit and must have plans in place to deal with the large amount of waste that is generated. The Environmental Protection Agency has authority under the Clean Water Act to regulate all animal feeding operations in the United States. This authority is delegated to individual states in some cases ([1]) Increasing numbers of cattle feedlots are utilizing out-wintering pads made of timber residue bedding in their operations ([2]). Nutrients are retained in the waste timber and livestock effluent and can be recycled within the farm system after use.
Prior to entering a feedlot, cattle spend most of their life grazing on rangeland or on immature fields of grain such as green wheat pasture. Once cattle obtain an entry-level weight, about 650 pounds (300 kg), they are transferred to a feedlot to be fed a specialized diet which may be made up of hay, corn, sorghum, various other grains, by-products of food processing, such as sugar beet waste, molasses, soybean meal, or cottonseed meal, and minerals. In the American northwest and Canada, barley, low grade durum wheat, chick peas (garbanzo beans), oats and occasionally potatoes are used as feed.[citation needed]
Feedlot diets are usually very dense in food energy, to encourage the deposition of fat, or marbling, in the animal's muscles; Some consider this fat desirable as it leads to 'juiciness' in the resulting meat. The animal may gain an additional 400 pounds (180 kg) during its 3-4 months in the feedlot.
Aside from ethical and environmental concerns, feedlots have come under criticism for human health reasons. The tissues of feedlot-raised cattle have far more saturated fat than that of grass-fed cattle, some sources say up to 500 percent more.[3] Feedlot-raised beef may after long periods on feed have reduced healthy omega-3 fatty acids because of the corn-and-grain diets of the cattle.[4]
Once cattle are fattened up to their finished weight, the cattle are transported to a slaughterhouse.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ 2008 Final CAFO Rule, USEPA, Office of Water, 2009. http://cfpub.epa.gov/npdes/afo/cafofinalrule.cfm.
- ^ Augustenborg, C.A.; O.T. Carton; R.P.O. Schulte; and I. H. Suffet (2008)'Silage Dry-Matter Yield and Nitrogen Response following Land Application of Spent Timber Residue from Out-Wintering Pads to Irish Grassland',Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis,39:7,1122—1137. [1]
- ^ Hyman, MD, Mark, Ultrametabolism: The Simple Plan for Automatic Weightloss, Scribner (2006), pp.35-36.
- ^ www.grassrootsbeef.com[2]
[edit] External links
- Texas Cattle Feeders Association
- Clean Water and Factory Farms - Inhumane Treatment of Farm Animals
- Australian Lot Feeders Association
- "Power Steer", Michael Pollan, New York Times, March 31, 2002
- Broken Bow South Lot, possibly the world's largest capacity
- Feedlot Problems within Nanango Shire Queensland Australia
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