Sustainability in the Northern Plains: Cattle Operations
Post by Clemson student Evelyn Trost Montana and the Northern Plains are a major source of beef farming in our country. For the most part, it is cow calf operations - herds where Cows are used to produce calves and raise them until they are around 7 months of age. At that point, the calves typically go to a backgrounding or stocking operation, where they work through the hardship of the separation from mom cow, and build bone and muscle. Then, the cattle go to a finishing lot, where they are fed grain and fattened up, focusing on trying to get fat marbling throughout meat to get more prime cuts, which are more expensive meat cuts. In our class, we have been focusing on sustainability out here, mostly of the land, but also of the way of life, which pretty much revolves around livestock production - the cowboy way of life. On Friday, the 26th, we visited one of the only feedlots in Montana, Yellowstone Feeders. On Monday, June 29th, we visited a backgrounding/stocking yard in Judith Basi...
