Feedlot in the context of "Animal feed"

A farm (also called an agricultural holding) is an area of land that is devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food and other crops; it is the basic facility in food production. The name is used for specialized units such as arable farms, vegetable farms, fruit farms, dairy, pig and poultry farms, and land used for the production of natural fiber, biofuel, and other biobased products. It includes ranches, feedlots, orchards, plantations and estates, smallholdings, and hobby farms, and includes the farmhouse and agricultural buildings as well as the land. In modern times, the term has been extended to include such industrial operations as wind farms and fish farms, both of which can operate on land or at sea.

There are about 570 million farms in the world, most of which are small and family-operated. Small farms with a land area of fewer than 2 hectares operate on about 12% of the world's agricultural land, and family farms comprise about 75% of the world's agricultural land.

Nutrient pollution is a form of water pollution caused by too many nutrients entering the water. It is a primary cause of eutrophication of surface waters (lakes, rivers and coastal waters), in which excess nutrients, usually nitrogen or phosphorus, stimulate algal growth. Sources of nutrient pollution include surface runoff from farms, waste from septic tanks and feedlots, and emissions from burning fuels. Raw sewage, which is rich in nutrients, also contributes to the issue when dumped in water bodies. Excess nitrogen causes environmental problems such as harmful algal blooms, hypoxia, acid rain, nitrogen saturation in forests, and climate change.

Agricultural production relies heavily on the use of natural and synthetic fertilizers, which often contain high levels of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. When nitrogen and phosphorus are not fully used by the growing plants, they can be lost from the farm fields and negatively impact air and downstream water quality. These nutrients can end up in aquatic ecosystems and contribute to increased eutrophication.

Beef cattle are cattle raised for meat production (as distinguished from dairy cattle, used for milk (production)). The meat of mature or almost mature cattle is mostly known as beef.In beef production there are three main stages: cow-calf operations, backgrounding, and feedlot operations. The production cycle of the animals starts at cow-calf operations; this operation is designed specifically to breed cows for their offspring. From here the calves are backgrounded for a feedlot. Animals grown specifically for the feedlot are known as feeder cattle, the goal of these animals is fattening. Animals not grown for a feedlot are typically female and are commonly known as replacement heifers.While the principal use of beef cattle is meat production, other uses include leather, and beef by-products used in candy, shampoo, cosmetics, and insulin.

The concept of an animal unit (AU) has traditionally been used in North America to facilitate planning, analysis and administration of forage use by grazing livestock, but the term has also had other applications (in relation to odor control regulation, feedlot size, manure management, etc.). The term has been variously defined by regulation in different jurisdictions, and by livestock management specialists, rangeland resource managers and others. Consequently, when using or interpreting the term, care is needed to ensure that a definition appropriate for the purpose is being used. Most (but not all) definitions are based on the concept that a 1000-pound (454 kg) cow, with or without an unweaned calf, is one animal unit, with such a cow being assumed to consume 26 pounds (about 12 kg) of forage dry matter per day.

Animal unit months (AUMs) in a grazing area (calculated by multiplying the number of animal units by the number of months of grazing) provide a useful indicator of the amount of forage consumed. On public lands in various jurisdictions, authorized use of forage for grazing is commonly expressed in animal unit months.

Backgrounding is an intermediate stage sometimes used in cattle production which begins after weaning and ends upon placement in a feedlot. Background feeding relies more heavily on forage (e.g., pasture, hay) in combination with grains to increase a calf's weight by several hundred pounds and to build up immunity to diseases before putting them in a feedlot in preparation for slaughter. Some cattle operations specialize in backgrounding.

United states price $19.40 per pound to $29.99 per pound all calves weighting 300 pounds to 1000 pounds do to foreign exchange rate

Feeder cattle, in some countries or regions called store cattle, are young cattle mature enough either to undergo backgrounding or to be fattened in preparation for slaughter. They may be steers (castrated males) or heifers (females who have not dropped a calf). The term often implicitly reflects an intent to sell to other owners for fattening (finishing). Backgrounding occurs at backgrounding operations, and fattening occurs at a feedlot. Feeder calves are less than 1 year old; feeder yearlings are between 1 and 2 years old. Both types are often produced in a cow-calf operation. After attaining a desirable weight, feeder cattle become finished cattle that are sold to a packer (finished cattle are also called fattened cattle, fat cattle, fed cattle, or, when contrasted with carcasses, live cattle). Packers slaughter the cattle and sell the meat in carcass boxed form.

There are different systems of feeding cattle in animal husbandry. For pastured animals, grass is usually the forage that composes the majority of their diet. In turn, this grass-fed approach is known for producing meat with distinct flavor profiles. Cattle reared in feedlots are fed hay supplemented with grain, soy and other ingredients to increase the energy density of the feed. The debate is whether cattle should be raised on fodder primarily composed of grass or a concentrate. The issue is complicated by the political interests and confusion between labels such as "free range", "organic", or "natural". Cattle raised on a primarily foraged diet are termed grass-fed or pasture-raised; for example meat or milk may be called grass-fed beef or pasture-raised dairy. The term "pasture-raised" can lead to confusion with the term "free range", which does not describe exactly what the animals eat.