The Art Of Beef Cattle Farming

Have you ever studied beef cattle farming? Beef cattle farming is the process where you raise
the cattle from birth to where they are old enough to breed or to be used as beef where they are
slaughtered and sold as meat and clothing. There are many steps in beef farming, including
disease prevention and treatment. You have to make sure the animals are doing good and that
they are healthy.
In the late 1800s, Gregor Mendels work in genetics and advances in animal breeding led to the
discovery of organisms that caused disease and treatments for livestock illnesses. I will also be
writing about the history of beef cattle farming
Blackleg
One of the most life threatening diseases is the clostridial disease called blackleg. Overall,
there are sixty different types of bacteria that can lead to the cause of blackleg. It occurs in calves
or young cattle less than two years old, and it is caused by gangrene that forms in muscles. The
gangrene is caused by calves not getting enough colostrum and also comes from cross
contamination in needles or the ground. You can vaccinate for this disease to prevent it but after
the cattle have contracted it than they will die.
Brucellosis
Brucellosis bangs is a contagious disease that causes abortion. All cattle that contract this disease
can not carry a calf to full term and if the cow has the bang, it will always abort the calf, not by
choice, but because its body can not stop the disease from progressing. The cows that have this
will die and all the other female cattle will catch the bangs disease and will have to be
euthanized. To prevent this from happening you must vaccinate the female calves when they are
of breeding age.

Mad Cow Disease

Mad cow disease is a brain disorder that affects adult cattle that may be spread to humans
through diseased meat. It is very contagious and although there is no cure, treatment may help.
Scientists are not sure what causes this serious disease.
Cancer
There are many different types of it and they are all incurable although some can be prevented by
vaccinations.
Bovine Respiratory Syncytial Virus
This is a sometimes fatal, stress related infection that can cause mild to severe respiratory disease
and can reduce the animal's resistance to other diseases and makes them more acceptable to the
other diseases.
Bovine Viral Diarrhea
This is of the most costly diseases of cattle. It causes coughing, nasal discharge,and fever type 2.
BVD is a very severe form of disease that can cause hemorrhaging. Haemophilus somnus is a
common disease causing bacterium in cattle.
Histophilus somni
tends to be an pathogen that causes a viral infection and increases the infection with other
bacterial agents, histophilus somni can infect several organ systems after it spreads through the
bloodstream it affect other parts of the cattle including respiratory, genital, nervous
thromboembolic meningoencephalitis, circulatory, and musculoskeletal systems. This is a
infectious disease seen in calves in large feedlots during the fall and the winter.
IBR(Infectious bovine rhinotracheitis)

this is a contagious disease in cattle there is often a infection and a fever, Often occurs at the
passageways of the head and the windpipe however in females it increases the inflammation of
the vulva and the vigina and abortion that happens twenty to forty five days after infection.
P13(Parainfluenza type 3)
this is a mild respiratory disease that suppresses the animal's immune system, allowing the other
diseases and infections to develop. pasteurella haemolytica and pasteurella multocida a major
cause of pneumonia, and the most commonly found pathogens in cattle dying of respiratory
disease, multiply quickly in the presence of stress, poor weather, or viral infections, and signs are
depression loss of appetite, fever, and death can occur.
Rabies
Rabies can effect all warm blooded animals including humans, it attacks the central nervous
system and can cause death.
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is a contagious virus there are two types of pneumonia bacterial and viral, a animal
with pneumonia may die soon or have severe lung damage.
Beef cattle are a related animal with humans they are often around humans. Humans take care of
them and keep them healthy and make sure they are fed, there is a lot of things you have to do
for your beef cattle. You have to make sure you are not feeding your beef cattle to much food,
when you feed the cow too much food they have more fat on the cow instead of having more
meat. If you use steroids your cow can get to big and it will look like you have more meat but
most of it is fat. If you do not feed your cow enough food it will not have as much meat, Your
cow can die from not having enough food which is called starvation. Some dangers of human

interaction with cattle are Mad Cow disease,Zoonotic Gastrointestinal disease, Leptospirosis,
Cysticercosis, Zoonotic Tuberculosis, Rabies, Leishmaniasis.
When you are buying a beef cow you should check and see if the cow is healthy by looking for
some of these disease symptoms mentioned above in the essay .You can also tell if a beef cow is
healthy if you can not see the cows hip bones, if they are acting healthy. You do not want a
skinny cow they are most likely sick or they are suffering from starvation sometimes it can be
severe. If a cow is pregnant with a calf if she is to young she could not be able to have the calf
and the cow would have to be cut open to get the calf out and the cow could die from giving
birth or the calf could die too, The calf could be turned coming out the wrong way this is called
breached and you have to turn the calf around to get the calf out.
There are many breeds of beef cattle the breeds are Angus, Hereford, Limousin, Charolais,
Wagyu, Belgian blue, Simmental blue, Texas longhorn,highland, Charlois, South devon, and
their are several more beef cattle breeds and types.
The basic terms cow means adult female that has had a calf, bull is a male animal, steer is a male
animal that cannot breed and has been castrated , heifer is a young female that has not produced
a calf, and a veal is a calf that is raised to 475-500 pounds. When the animal is processed 98% of
it is used and about 45% of the animal is used as meat. The other parts of the animal are used for
other byproducts including Leather, China, Glue, Film, Soap, Pharmaceuticals, Insulin, and
Gelatin. The average meat consumption from a american eats about 65 pounds of beef each year.
Cattle produce about 25 billion pounds of meat each year. Did you know that gummy bears are
made from cattle? Well they are made from cattle there is a lot more things that are made from
cattle like Photographic film, Steel ball bearings, Fine bone china, Pet food, Insulation, Paint
brushes, Glue, Clothes, Shoes, Saddles, Furniture, Basketballs, Shampoo, Shaving cream,

Deodorant, Candles, Crayons, Floor wax, Detergents, Plastics, and there's more things that you
can make with cattle.
Not long ago cattle were used for many purposes including Skins, Meat, Milk, and Labor. Today
beef cattle are used just for meat and just useful by-products. Most cattle graze on hills or steep
slopes where there is not any houses and not used for crops and are not used in any important
ways cattle can live anywhere that there is grass for them to eat and a place to get water.cattle
have been around close to 10,500 years, they were found in a group of about 80 and those were
the first cattle ever found. Do you think factory farming a good way to treat animals? I do not
think that it is a good thing to have factory farming it is not good for the animals, because it is
overcrowded and they do not get much grass if they get any because they are in cages inside a
building , and they probably do not get enough sunlight. But there are good things to factory
farming the birth of calf inside the building is easier on a cow. People think caring and taking
care of a cow is not much to do but there is a lot more than what people think you have to do,
you have to feed the cow make sure they are doing okay, have shelter, water, food. My mentor
Everett Reemes does not participate in the factory farming industry his type of farming is open
range grazing with substitutes of hay and organic grains and silage produced on his own farm.
He has been beef cattle farming for fifty three years, the type of breed of beef cattle he farms is
angus and limousin crossed. They have wonderful quality of beef and they make great breeding
stock the qualities of Everett Reemes calves and cattle are very good because of the cross
between limousin and angus make for good show cattle the calves are extremely healthy most of
the time there is rarely a breaching problem while caving with this breed. Angus are usually one
of the most ill tempered breeds but when you have a cross with limousin it tones their
temperament down some of the characteristics of Everett Reemes cattle are long legs and body

they are also stocky, they are a good breed that is a usually bigger cattle than most other cattle. In
their meat it is lean and has some marbling which is an amount of fat within the meat that allows
for cooking without a lot of added fats such as olive oil, lard, or vegetable oil. His cattle are
primarily used for meat he slaughters them for his family's own consumption. He owns over
sixty head of limousin and angus crossed cattle but he also has some scottish highland cattle that
is used for meat and their hides and head plus some other organs. The scottish highlands cattle
hide is used for leather or blanket binding their heads are usually mounted by his son who is a
taxidermist . the heads are sold to an individual upon their request for it. Through the research
portion of my graduation project i have learned how difficult it is to take care of cattle and their
is a lot more to beef cattle farming than just meets the eye it takes a very experienced farming
like my mentor Everett Reemes. You learn lots of techniques over the years that allows you to
tell how the cows are feeling and doing health wise after many years of farming you see more in
the animal than just that it's a beef cow you learn how to understand them even when the
symptoms are not their. through cattle farming you see lots of different diseases and treatment
types but over all you have to know your animals and how well they respond to different
treatments. Cattle farming is really a art and through the experience of this project i have came to
realize that farming is a wonderful profession with lots of hard work.