Cows aren't designed to eat soybeans or grain – it makes them ill if they do.
But that's what most of them are fed.
Today's beef “industry” is designed to produce as much as it can, as cheaply as it can. As quickly as it can.
And the quickest, cheapest, way to produce beef cattle is to feed them the very thing that makes them ill. Cereals.
First thing they get on a cereal diet is a condition called “acidosis”. Acidosis is a chronic belly ache caused by switching animals from their natural diet of pasture to an artificial, high-cereal, concentrate diet.
Their stomachs acidify.
And from that acidity spring a whole host of other problems. Ulcers and liver abscesses are common (in America between 15 and 30 percent of cattle suffer from them). Bloat is another consequence. And so is “feedlot polio”, where the brain gets starved of energy and causes paralysis.
The solution to all these ailments is a medicine chest full of drugs, including ionophores (to buffer acidity) and antibiotics (to reduce liver abscesses).
But, despite all the drugs, in an industrial livestock system, mortality increases, longevity decreases and disease outbreaks and pandemics happen more often.
Because, when you take an animal out of its natural habitat, it becomes dependent on humans for everything it eats. And their goal is to create the lowest cost diet that will sustain the highest possible production levels. Even if it means feeding them chewing gum.
Ever seen a cow that loves to eat chewing gum (still in its wrappers) ?
Consider this: The Dept. of Animal Sciences at the University of Illinois did a study to see if it was possible to feed stale chewing gum, still in its wrappers, to cows. They concluded: "Results of both experiments suggest that chewing gum/packaging material can replace up to 30% of corn-alfalfa diets for growing steers”
Luckily, there's another way to go about it... let cattle lead a natural life and eat what they're supposed to eat. Pasture.
Cattle are smart grazers. They select grasses that are higher in protein and mineral content. They'll also nibble on shrubs, clovers, and random leaves if they can get to them.
They've got a great sense of smell too - and can detect odours up to six miles away. In addition, they’re also equipped with about 25,000 taste buds - unlike humans who have only about 2-4,000.
And it works.
Cattle fed this way are healthier, need less medicine and fewer visits from the vet.
It's called animal welfare.
SOURCES
Nutritionally related disorders affecting feedlot cattle
Texas Tech University
M. L. Galyean and J. D. Rivera – 18 December 2002
CPRE’s Vision for the future of farming: The future of beef and sheep farming
Campaign to Protect Rural England
31 August 2012
Livestock and landscapes
Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations
2012
The differences between grass-fed beef and grain-fed beef
Marks Daily Apple
Mark Sisson – 25 March 2022
The animal welfare and environmental benefits of Pasture for Life farming – interim findings Pasture For Life
Rob Havard, Anna Heaton, Dr. John Meadley, Paul Silcock, Dave Stanley,Dr. Steve Webster and Dr. Angela Wright. – August 2018
Causes of death of beef cattle raised in feedlots
Brazilian Journal of Veterinary Research
Pablo Estima-Silva, Plínio A. Oliveira, Fabio Raphael P. Bruhn, Haide Valeska Scheid, Lucas S. Marques, Luiza S. Ribeiro, Ana Lucia Schild – May 2020