Cattle in Feedlots

Introduction

In the era of efficiency and quantity over quality and health, it seems normal to shove a massive number of cows into tight, confined, and dirty living places. With feces everywhere, we are left with optimal conditions for disease to spread amongst the cows, which ultimately leads to a diet of antibiotics. Cows are stuffed full of corn-based food which fattens them up much faster than when fed a grass diet. Corn diets are cheap and effective, but they can wreak havoc on the cows, which then affects our health when we consume beef. These “cattle cities” are called feedlots. Cattle should not be kept on feedlots because it has a negative effect on the animals, our health, and the environment. In nature, cows would not eat corn. Their digestive systems are not built for anything except grass and similar feed; therefore, when they are fed grains and corn, a vast number of health issues are created.

Cattle in Feedlots: Health Implications

The most common health issues according to Animals.Mom.Me are “bloat, or possibly fatal amounts of excess gas, and liver abscesses” (Animals.Mom.Me, n.d.). The article also mentioned that cows who consume a lot of corn are much more susceptible to have higher levels of E. coli than those who don’t eat corn. This infection is not bad for the cow, but it is harmful to the people who eat the cow’s meat because they can become infected from consuming cow products. Although corn feed may be the cheaper option, it causes disease in cows which can then be passed on to the consumers. Cows fed corn diets die very quickly because they are not meant to eat corn. On average, a cow will die within six months once switching to a corn diet, which fortunately for the farmers, is just enough time to fatten them up for slaughter. According to Precision Nutrition, cows are kept on feeding lots for around “150 to 240 days. During this time, they gain 500 to 600 lbs” (Precision Nutrition, n.d.). This can only be done by feeding them corn. In grass-fed beef, it takes much longer for cows to achieve slaughter weight, which makes the process much more expensive. The big difference between grass-fed and corn-fed beef is that grass-fed beef is leaner and has a balanced level of good fats, whereas corn-fed cattle is fatty and contains higher levels of bad fats than good. The average feedlot today would not be possible without corn, because we consume so much meat in our day-to-day life. The only way to change these consequences of feeding our cattle corn is to cut down our meat consumption and switch to only buying grass-fed beef. The most common way to contract E. coli is by eating contaminated beef. E. coli can be found in healthy humans and animals and is generally harmless with a few exceptions.

There are a few toxic strains such as E. coli 0157:H7 which damages the lining of the small intestine. These toxic strains can cause “severe abdominal cramps, bloody diarrhea and vomiting” according to Mayo Clinic (2018), but a healthy adult can usually recover within a week. However, young children and older adults are more susceptible to develop life-threatening kidney failure called hemolytic uremic syndrome. Mayo Clinic (2018) states that we can contract this infection from cattle in three main ways: through ground beef, unpasteurized milk, and fresh produce. When cows are slaughtered and processed, the bacteria (E. coli) in their intestines can contaminate the meat. When being processed, many animals are combined thus increasing the risk of contamination. When cows are being milked, E. coli from their udders or from milking equipment can contaminate raw milk, which is why it is illegal to sell unpasteurized milk. Pasteurization kills harmful bacteria, making the milk safe to drink. Mayo Clinic also states that we can contract the infection through fresh produce because “Runoff from cattle farms can contaminate fields where fresh produce is grown. Certain vegetables, such as spinach and lettuce, are particularly vulnerable to this type of contamination” (Mayo Clinic, 2018). Feedlots not only negatively affect the cows and our health, but also the environment. Feedlots can generally house anywhere from thousands to millions of cows at one time. Due to the massive population, there is a large amount of waste. The waste gathers on the ground which cattle then have to live on top of until it drains into nearby ditches and streams. This waste contains many pollutants such as “antibiotic-resistant bacteria, hormones, chemicals used in livestock care, milkhouse wastes, cleaning agents, ammonia and heavy metals, and silage leachate” according to Sierra Club (n.d.). Waste from feedlots may also contain E. coli, salmonella, or cryptosporidium, which can all cause illness or death in humans and animals. These pathogens can enter our food supply when the waste from feedlots drains onto nearby land which can in turn contaminate fields where our food is grown.

Environmental Impact of Feedlots

Feedlots also create a large amount of pollution. According to Sierra Club, “Water pollution can be caused by overapplication of wastes (aka putting too much cow manure onto farming fields), direct runoff into surface waters, or by traveling through the ground or catch basins into field tiles or drainage ditches that discharge directly into surface waters” (Sierra Club, n.d.). Feed lots can also pollute air in numerous ways. “This happens mainly because manure and biological materials break down when there is no oxygen, such as in the bottom of a manure pit” (Sierra Club, n.d.). This breakdown of manure creates dangerous gases such as methane, ammonia, and hydrogen sulfide. A few of the methods these gases get released are: through handling waste, the buildings in which animals are housed, and through the techniques used in applying the manure to farming land. If waste is not handled correctly, or is not aerated properly, it results in an extreme buildup of gasses. When these gasses are released through transportation or application of manure to fields, they are very potent, causing extreme release of gaseous pollutants. Another way pollution is released is through the building’s animals are kept in. The air inside these buildings can be deadly to the animals or humans inside, but fans are used to blow these pollutants out of the building, thus polluting the neighboring land and air. Lastly, pollution can be released through applying manure to land. This happens because “once or twice each year many liquid waste CAFO (feedlot) systems will scrape the solids out of the bottom of the waste storage structures and spread these thick, fermented wastes onto farm fields, causing even worse air pollution” (Sierra Club, n.d.). Overall, feedlots can cause pollution through many methods, therefore we should switch to pasture-raised cattle instead.

Conclusion

In conclusion, cattle should not be kept on feedlots, but instead be raised in pastures and fed grass diets. The effects of the feedlot lifestyle for our cattle is not only negative for our bodies, the cattle themselves but also to the environment. The cows are forced to live in spaces filled with their own excrement that they can’t move in and fed foods they would never eat in the wild. These living conditions affect the beef we eat once the cattle are slaughtered and processed, which can significantly affect our health and even leave us with infections from E. coli. The pollution from the feedlots themselves, and the waste created from the cattle is detrimental to our environment. Overall, healthy stewardship of the earth and of humans demands a move away from keeping our cattle in feedlots.

References

• Animals.Mom.Me. (n.d.). Common health issues in cattle. Retrieved from https://animals.mom.me
• Precision Nutrition. (n.d.). The truth about corn-fed beef. Retrieved from https://www.precisionnutrition.com
• Mayo Clinic. (2018). E. coli: Symptoms and causes. Retrieved from https://www.mayoclinic.org
• Sierra Club. (n.d.). Environmental impact of feedlots. Retrieved from https://www.sierraclub.org