Feedlot
A feedlot or feedyard is a feeding place designed to feed and fatten cattle , mainly cattle , for slaughter .
implementation
This type of fattening operation is mainly carried out in the USA , on the Great Plains above the Ogallala Aquifer . Most of the feedlots with more than 16,000 fattening places are concentrated here. In some cases, feedlots require a state permit due to the high level of manure production in the area.
Feedlots are predominantly operated by vertically integrated agro-industrial companies. The company Monfort of Colorado (meanwhile part of ConAgra Foods ) has three feedlots with an investment volume of $ 800 million: In each 1 by 1/2 mile large open-air enclosures, which are designed for a total of 225,000 animals, approx. 500,000 bulls fattened ready for slaughter in three to four months. These animals normally need three years to be ready for slaughter in pastures.
First, the calves are fattened on pastures to 300 kg until they get into the feedlots to receive a special diet, a silage made from hay, maize, sorghum and other grain, soybeans, sugar beet residues, cottonseed meal, minerals and waste products of the Food industry exists. This is preheated so that the animals use as little energy as possible. The energy density makes the animals gain 180 kg in weight.
Movie
- Industrialized agriculture in the USA. Beef production in Colorado. FWU Institute for Film and Image in Science and Education, 1994, 16 min.
