What are facts about raising beef cattle?

Raising beef cattle is simply raising cattle for their meat. The meat is the end product of raising these animals, either in the feedlot, on pasture or a mix of each.

There are several sectors to raising beef cattle: seedstock cow-calf, commercial cow-calf, background/stocker, and feedlot.

Not all beef cattle require daily supplementation of grains. Many beef cattle can be raised on pasture without supplementation, except for salt and minerals.

It takes less effort to raise beef cattle than dairy cattle. As long as they have good pasture, water, salt and minerals they're just fine. No need for milking twice a day, cleaning out stalls or having to herd them into a barn every night.

It's not easy, and not for everyone. It does have its hard, hands-on real dirty work that many people shy away from.

You need to manage your operation to be as low-cost as possible. This is often easier for the cow-calf guys to do than the feedlot or most of the backgrounders to do.