Cattle Industry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Cattle Industry - Essay Example Cattle are raised in three phases before it is processed. Calves are first raised on pasture and raised land. They are then sold to a stock feeder who builds them around nine hundred to thousand pounds by allowing them to feed on pasture, crop residue and range land and finally go to feedlots where they are fattened with high-protein feed for slaughter. At the slaughterhouse the carcass is divided into â€Å"cuts†. Earlier the sides of beef would go to wholesalers but now disassembly occurs at the plant itself. After slaughter one portion goes directly to the wholesalers who distribute to institutional users or grocery stores. The grocery chains are directly linked to the packers. Another portion goes for processing into hot dogs or sausages or other forms of meat. It is then canned or frozen for further consumption. The bacterial count has to be kept low while storing so that spoilage is minimum. This is done through plant cleanliness, careful slaughter procedures and keeping temperatures low so that bacteria multiply at a low rate. Transportation is done in refrigerated trucks and spoilage and distribution too has become easy due to vertical integration of firms that deal with packed food. The links in the commodity chain have reduced as even restaurant chains are forming tighter linkages with packers, feedlots and stock feeders.