Watch: Feedlot focus - finishing cattle in the US

What separates the two feedlots profiled here? Geography – 500km of driving, a stone’s throw in US terms. Animal type – Angus dominates both operations. Diet – both are heavily corn-based, but we’re getting warmer.

If you’re a US feedlot heifer or steer, chances are you’re getting a helping hand. You and 95% of your contemporaries are treated with and fed hormones and antibiotic growth promoters, prohibited here in the EU.

The norm, for now

Their use is accepted as the norm in America – like an Irish farmer feeding rolled barley. Research stateside has provided sufficient evidence that these substances pose minimal threats to food safety and animal welfare. However, antibiotic resistance, the EU’s reason for banning many of these substances, is a whole different story and one that will perhaps come to light in future years. Indeed, a growing cohort of the population (about 10%) now chooses grass-raised, non-hormone-treated cattle when buying their beef – a movement Ireland hopes to grab by the coat tails in the coming years.

Bejot Farms and Feedyard

Thomas Bejot slaughters 15,000 cattle annually from his feedyard in Ainsworth, Nebraska. The operation is very much a conventional American feedlot – using the full arsenal of hormones and growth promoters to produce beef for sale on US shelves.

“We buy in weaned calves from local sale barns, mostly Angus heifers. At any one time we own 40-60% of the cattle; the rest we finish on contract,” he said.

“We charge contract guys based on the price of corn and the amount of it their animals eat. It protects us from losing money on poor-quality animals that won’t convert the feed well.”

Cattle typically enter Bejot feedyard at 780-825lb (360kg) and come slaughter-fit at 1,450-1,500lb (670kg). Feeding pens are outdoor, dirt-based and contain between 50 and 170 head.

Two feed trucks operate full-time and cattle are fed twice daily. There are seven diets in all, of varying energy and protein concentrations. As cattle grow, so too does the cereal proportion of their diet. Indeed, the roughage proportion in final finishing diets is as low as 10%. This is one area where antibiotics and growth promoters come into play.

Growth promoters

“Yeah, we use the full complement of antibiotics and growth promoters here. The antibiotics help avoid problems like stomach upsets and liver abscesses on high-corn diets, prevent pneumonia, coccidiosis and foot rot outbreaks and, of course, give us a growth boost. We can also use in-feed chemicals to suppress oestrus in our heifers.

“All of our animals get implants too. It’s kind of a way of altering the animal’s gender I suppose. The steers get more heifer hormones and the heifers get more steer hormones. Their function is to encourage lean muscle growth and help grading (TA), but at the same time the packers (factories) don’t want excessively “bully” (masculine) animals – that’s where the heifer hormones (estradiol) come in. These implants are probably worth $70-100 a head to us.

Wulf Cattle Depot Feedyard

Lucas Sutherland takes control of Wulf Cattle Company operations in western South Dakota. The 15,500 capacity feedyard in McLaughlin, South Dakota, falls into his remit.

“Our model is different to what you’ll see elsewhere. We’re the biggest supplier to Zandbergen Meats, who’re based up near you guys [in the Netherlands]. That obviously means that we have to produce beef that’s hormone and growth promoter-free. They look to America for scale and consistency of supply.

“We outsource our calf production to dedicated ranchers who use sires that we provide, many of which are hybrid Limousin x Angus bulls. We pick good guys and know that the predetermined dam/sire mix will produce a calf that’ll perform well in the feedyard and produce perfectly marbled beef cuts at slaughter,” Lucas said.

42,000 acres

To ensure a year-round supply, the lighter calves that Wulf buy go to a 42,000-acre stocker ranch about 40 miles from McLaughlin to graze and frame-up.

“We want to deliver fit animals all year round and we use the stocker ranch and our starter diets to control growth rates and keep the flow constant. As a whole, our animal performance isn’t at the level of your typical US feedyard, but the marketplace we’re going to offers us a premium for what we do. Having said that, the good cattle that come in here will grow 800lbs (364kg) in 180 days up to slaughter. The fact that we have some Limousin genetics in the mix means that our cattle actually grade very well for yield.