Public Lands vs. Feedlot Feeding

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Public Lands vs. Feedlot Feeding Grazing has always been a key element in beef production. Today there are hundreds of controversies and issues relating to feedlot feeding and public land grazing. How these concerns can be managed are seen and viewed by many different people with various methods. However, in the meantime, this nation wide problem will continue to affect thousands in numerous, dissimilar ways. Virtually all problems associated with grazing are due to the continuous presence of cattle on the same land for an extended period of time. This is true whether the land is public or private. As soon as time control becomes a factor in management, grazing becomes a positive factor in the environment. Previous studies have found that feedlot feeding and management can be extremely harmful to the animals associated with such practices. Many concerns include the well being of the animals living in such a space that is incredibly overcrowded with limited movement, lack of fresh air, disease is constantly at a higher level, and temperature control has no limit. There are over 1000 animals’ confined to a single building, causing problems with the animals to eating behaviors as well as making it difficult for the creatures to lie down. The CAFOs (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations) are like factories, however they differ due to the fact that they contain tons of helpless animals living within their walls. One cow produces more than 20 times the waste a human produces. Waste from 10,000 CAFO cows in such limited areas contributes to untreatable waste of a city populated with more than 200,000 people. The manure from these animals is usually used as a valuable fertilizer but when it is liquefied, the waste instantly pollutes, contaminates and poisons most everything it comes into contact with. The nitrogen in the manure is very toxic to humans and pollutes the ground water. Furthermore the air quality is severely damaging humans and animals of the surrounding area. There is an unvarying amount of dust, odors, flies, and noxious gases that are daily produced and generated from CAFOs. These odors can cause many health problems for the workers and the people that confined to these working units within the feedlots. Though few, some see these confined feedlots as advantages to cattle management simply because there are more animals in a condensed area so as to preserve additional open land along with supplying various job openings within the CAFOs.

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