In our last article, we learned how young cows that reach their 400-lb. weaning weight are separated from their mothers and kept in a separate pasture or pen. After a period of adjustment, and typically in commercial operations, the young cows are shipped to a feedlot, an animal feeding operation that makes its money on cattle weight gains. Often, these feeding operations are highly concentrated with hundreds or thousands of animals.
Cattle are raised across the United States, but it’s usually cheaper to ship them to a feedlot in the Midwest than to get them to their processing weight back home on the farm. That’s because the U.S. Midwest is a center of grain production, and these young cows are fed a grain-based diet to have them gain weight. In Canada, the feedlots are located in Alberta, which is also part of North America’s Grain Belt.
Note: Grassfed beef usually doesn’t require transporting cattle over long distances; however, grassfed beef may still be grain-finished to produce the flavorful marbling and red coloration that consumers like.
With grain fed beef, the young cows start their grain-based diet on route to the feedlot. Estimates vary, but Canada’s Beef Cattle Research Council (BCRC) claims that it takes about 6 lbs. of grain per 1 lb. of weight gain. Efficiencies have improved since the 1950s, but the amount of grain that’s required is still so great that it can be cheaper to ship the cows to the grain than the grain to the cows.
Let’s look at an example. A cow enters the feedlot at 500 lbs. and reaches a live weight of 1200 lbs. prior to slaughter. In order for the cow to gain 700 lbs. at the feedlot, the animal needs to consume 4200 lbs. of grain. If the math isn’t apparent, remember that it takes six pounds of grain for each pound of weight gain. Since the animal gained 700 lbs., our calculation is 6 lbs. of grain x 700 lbs. of cow = 4200.
All of the cow isn’t edible beef, and the BCRC estimates that a 1400-lb. live weight will produce an 868 lb. carcass with 512 lbs. of edible beef. In our next article, we’ll cover processing, packaging, and how even the non-edible parts of the cow are used.