Beef Cattle
About Beef Cattle
Beef cattle are uniquely bred and raised to meet the protein demands of US consumers. Beef is the second most consumed protein in the US. Over generations, beef cattle have been bred to have very different traits than dairy cattle. As dairy cattle are bred for milk production, beef cattle are bred to be muscularly dense and are often shorter and stockier than other cattle.
Beef cattle thrive on all types of rangelands including marginal areas where forage is poor. There are many types of beef cattle, but Angus are by far the preferred breed raised in the United States. The life span of a beef cow is around one and half to six plus years depending on if they are identified as a meat cow or breeding cow.
Beef Cattle Life Cycle
Cow-Calf Farm
Beef cattle start on a cow-calf farm once they are born. Farmers keep a herd of cows which they use to produce calves. When a calf is born, it weighs around 100 lbs. Calves diets consist predominately of its mothers' milk to start and eventually grass, legumes, grains, and other feed is introduced into their diets. This period of removing milk from a calf's diet is called weaning. Beef calves will remain with their mothers for seven to eight months.
Weaning
After seven to eight months, a calf is weaned from its mother. The process of weaning takes place when a farmer removes a calf from its mother and mothers milk feeding the calf only grass and feed. If a calf is not weaned, the calf and mother cow can develop health issues due to the lack of nutrients available in the bodies of both animals.
The process of producing milk is very taxing on a mother cow as the process uses much of the nutrients and energy consumed by the cow. It is essential to remove the calf from the mother cow to allow the nutrients and energy to be used by the cow to recover their health and weight which was lost during the pregnancy and lactation periods. After a "dry period" or time when a female cow does not produce milk of 45-60 days, the cow is physically ready to have another calf.
Some calves are kept on the farm once they are weaned to replenish the cow/calf farmers "breeding" herd. The majority of cows on a cow/calf farm are auctioned off with many going stockers/backgrounders. Some smaller beef farms will keep the calves and raise them until they have grown to the weight and age needed for harvesting.
Stockers/Backgrounders
Stockers/backgrounders are farmers that purchase calves and juvenile cattle at auction for the purpose of raising them to an almost finished weight of 800-1,000 lbs. Cows are often allowed to graze in fields also called paddocks and fed with supplemental grains and nutrients with a goal of 1.5-2.5 lbs. of weight gain a day. Cattle will remain on these farms between three to six months before they are auctioned to a feed yard.
Auction/Sell
Cows are sold at an auction house or sold directly to a feed yard operator. At an auction house, cows are shown to perspective buyers. Farmers bid money on the animals and the farmer with the highest bid wins the auction and purchases the cow. Cows are usually purchased by backgrounders or feed yard operators. Sometimes, cow/calf farmers will purchase cattle to replenish their herd or introduce knew genetics to their breeding programs.
Feed Yard Operator
If not kept on the backgrounders farm or cow/calf farm to be sold directly to the processing plant, when a cow is heavy enough, it is bought by feed yard operators. Feed yard operators feed cattle a high protein diet of grains and legumes which helps cows quickly add muscle and weight. During this time their diets are closely monitored by a nutritionist. Cows continue to add weight until they are around 18-24 months old and reach a weight between 1,000-1,400 lbs. Once cows hit the desired weight, they are considered market ready. Once a cow is considered market ready it is harvested at a distribution plant and the protein is introduced into our food networks.
Trip to the Farm
Take a virtual field trip to Thunder View Farm, a real NY beef farm, to learn how NY beef is raised, how cattle are cared for, and how NY beef farmers work to conserve their environments while raising beef across the Empire State.
Fun Facts
- When a beef animal is born, it is first called a calf. As they grow, female cows are called heifers until they have their first baby and are then called cows. Male cattle are called bulls or steers.