Post by Deleted on Nov 3, 2014 12:10:09 GMT 10
Dairy Cows
Cows do not naturally produce milk year round. Like humans, they produce it to feed their young. In order for dairy cows to produce milk they are kept almost continually pregnant.
Within a day of their birth, most calves are removed from their mother so that she can continue to provide milk for human consumption, resulting in a distressed and grieving cow and a frightened and bewildered calf.
900,000 dairy calves, less than a week old, are slaughtered each year as 'by-products'of the dairy industry.
As with other farm-based businesses the dairy industry has grown dramatically over the past few decades, while the number of farms has reduced by nearly two thirds.
Feedlots
Point 4 million grain fed cattle were marketed in Australia in 2009-10, making up over a third of all adult cattle that were slaughtered.
Feedlots may not be something you think occur in Australia because you rarely see anything of this magnitude when driving through the countryside, but beef from feedlots makes up approximately 40% of Australia's total beef supply and 80% of beef sold in major domestic supermarkets
There are approximately 700 accredited feedlots throughout Australia, with the larger ones holding up to 40,000 cattle at any one time. The majority of production growth in the beef industry over the last 10 years has been due to the expanding feedlot sector.
The world's cattle consume enough food to feed 8.7 billion people, which is more than the entire human population, yet nearly 1 billion people are starving.
Grain feeding is resource intensive and environmentally destructive, as grain has to be grown and often transported long distance in order to keep up with demand from the cattle industry. According to the Queensland Department of Primary Industries, it takes 7.45kg of feed to produce 1.1kg of weight gain.
A 450kg steer produces 29kg of wet manure and urine each day, so a large feedlot with 30,000 animals produces 870,000kg of excrement every day!31 If this waste is managed incorrectly it can seep into ground water, or run off into creeks and rivers, encouraging blooms of the toxic blue-green algae.
Cattle raised on pastures are often 'finished' on grain diets in feedlots prior to slaughter. Cattle are taken to the feedlot at 12-14 months of age and spend between 50-120 days being fattened before slaughter.
Beef processors are increasingly looking to lot feed beef cattle to keep up with the increasing global demand for meat.
Cows do not naturally produce milk year round. Like humans, they produce it to feed their young. In order for dairy cows to produce milk they are kept almost continually pregnant.
Within a day of their birth, most calves are removed from their mother so that she can continue to provide milk for human consumption, resulting in a distressed and grieving cow and a frightened and bewildered calf.
900,000 dairy calves, less than a week old, are slaughtered each year as 'by-products'of the dairy industry.
As with other farm-based businesses the dairy industry has grown dramatically over the past few decades, while the number of farms has reduced by nearly two thirds.
Feedlots
Point 4 million grain fed cattle were marketed in Australia in 2009-10, making up over a third of all adult cattle that were slaughtered.
Feedlots may not be something you think occur in Australia because you rarely see anything of this magnitude when driving through the countryside, but beef from feedlots makes up approximately 40% of Australia's total beef supply and 80% of beef sold in major domestic supermarkets
There are approximately 700 accredited feedlots throughout Australia, with the larger ones holding up to 40,000 cattle at any one time. The majority of production growth in the beef industry over the last 10 years has been due to the expanding feedlot sector.
The world's cattle consume enough food to feed 8.7 billion people, which is more than the entire human population, yet nearly 1 billion people are starving.
Grain feeding is resource intensive and environmentally destructive, as grain has to be grown and often transported long distance in order to keep up with demand from the cattle industry. According to the Queensland Department of Primary Industries, it takes 7.45kg of feed to produce 1.1kg of weight gain.
A 450kg steer produces 29kg of wet manure and urine each day, so a large feedlot with 30,000 animals produces 870,000kg of excrement every day!31 If this waste is managed incorrectly it can seep into ground water, or run off into creeks and rivers, encouraging blooms of the toxic blue-green algae.
Cattle raised on pastures are often 'finished' on grain diets in feedlots prior to slaughter. Cattle are taken to the feedlot at 12-14 months of age and spend between 50-120 days being fattened before slaughter.
Beef processors are increasingly looking to lot feed beef cattle to keep up with the increasing global demand for meat.