Can You Spot the Feedlot Beef Producer?

I am in the midst of compiling a master list of agricultural information and agvocacy videos to be posted on this blog as a separate page so that they’re easy to find for anyone who may be looking. This undertaking has entailed many hours of asking fellow agvocates for their favorite videos and conducting a lot of YouTube research on my own.

Today, I saw one titled “Inhumane Feed Lot Beef vs Humane Grass Fed Beef”. Sorry, I refuse to provide a link to this video because I think it’s a crock of manure- not because I don’t believe in grass fed beef (I’ve been eating a lot of that over here in Australia) but because this is a prime example of what NOT to do to your fellow producer. Last I checked, feedlot beef producers treated their animals humanely and provide the utmost care to the cattle, just like every other cattle producer. Cowboys ride pens every day to check for sick animals, ranch hands practice low stress production methods to avoid alarming and hurting cattle, sick cattle are cared for on an individual basis and feedlot nutritionists formulate rations specifically for the cattle herd’s nutritional requirements. All of these feedlot employees treat cattle humanely because it’s the right thing to do.

Do me a favor. Look at the photos below and pick out the producer providing the best care.

Did you pick the right one? I sure as hell didn’t because I couldn’t tell which was which – because it doesn’t matter whether the rancher is a grass-fed or grain-fed advocate, as long as the animals are treated well and the end product is safe, wholesome and healthy.

Beef producers are constantly trying to navigate through a gauntlet of challenges: environmental conservation, high commodity prices and animal activist scrutiny add stress to a producer who is always striving to produce a safe, wholesome product for the American consumer. They don’t need their colleagues and peers nagging at them also. The beef industry, as with all agriculture entities, needs to stick together for better or worse- grass fed, grain fed, organic, natural and conventional CAN coexist in harmony. Throwing each other under the train isn’t going to feed the 6.3 billion people that are currently populating planet Earth.

As is said in the Bible, “Love one another, as I have loved you.”

Until next time,
~ Buzzard ~