Scheduling and diet

The cattle industry works in sequence with one another, prior to entering a feedlot, young calves are born typically in the spring where they spend the summer with their mothers in a pasture or on rangeland. These producers are called cow-calf operations and are essential for feedlot operations to run. Once the young calves reach a weight between 300 to 700 pounds (140 to 320 kg) they are rounded up and either sold directly to feedlots, or sent to cattle auctions for feedlots to bid on them. Once transferred to a feedlot, they are housed and looked after for the next six to eight months where they are fed a total mixed ration (TMR) to start the journey of their further growth away from their mothers. Typically these TMR’s consist of forage, grains, minerals, and supplements to benefit the animals’ health and to maximize feed efficiency. These rations are also known to contain various other forms of feed such as a specialized animal feed which consists of corn, corn byproducts (some of which is derived from ethanol and high fructose corn syrup production), milo, barley, and various grains. Some rations may also contain roughage such as corn stalks, straw, sorghum, or other hay, cottonseed meal, premixes which may contain but not limited to antibiotics, fermentation products, micro & macro minerals and other essential ingredients that are purchased from mineral companies, usually in sacked form, for blending into commercial rations. Many feed companies are able to be prescribed a drug to be added into a farms feed if required by a vet. Farmers generally work with nutritionists who aid in the formulation of these rations to ensure their animals are getting the recommended levels of minerals and vitamins, but also to make sure the animals are not wasting feed in their manure. 

In a typical feedlot, a cow’s diet is roughly 62% roughage, 31% grain, 5% supplements (minerals and vitamins), and 2% premix. High-grain diets lower the pH in the animals’ rumen. Due to the stressors of these conditions, and due to some illnesses, it may be necessary to give the animals antibiotics on occasion.

Feedlot diets are high in protein, to encourage growth of muscle mass and the distribution of some fat (known as marbling in butchered meat). The marbling is desirable to consumers, as it contributes to flavour and tenderness. These animals may gain an additional 400-600 pounds (180 kg) during its approximate 200 days in the feedlot, depending on its entrance weight into the lot, and also how well the animal gains muscle. Once cattle are fattened up to their finished weight, the fed cattle are transported to a slaughterhouse.