Traditionally,cattleraisedforbeefinAmericahaveroamed
freely over the vast open spaces that we see in cowboy
movies.ButasasupposedlyhumorousarticleinthePeoria
JournalStarindicates,themodernrangeisn’twhatitusedto
be:
Acowboy’shome ain’tnecessarily on therange.More ’n
likely,homeisafeedlotwheretheclosestabeefcomestothe
smellofsageisinapotroast.Thisiscowboy’nmodern-like.
ThisisNorrisFarmswhereinsteadofrunning 700 headon
20,000acresofsparse-grassprairie,theyrun7,000headon
11 acres of concrete.^113
By comparisonwith chickens, pigs, vealcalves, and dairy
cows,beefcattlestillseemoreofthegreatoutdoors,butthe
timetheyhavetodosohasbeendiminished.Twentyyears
ago,cattlewouldhaveroamedforabouttwoyears.Now,the
luckyoneswhogettoroamatallareroundedupafterabout
sixmonthstobe“finished”—thatis,tobebroughttomarket
weightandconditionbybeingfedaricherdietthangrass.For
thispuposetheyareshippedlongdistancestofeedlots.Here
forsixtoeightmonthstheyeatcornandothercereals.Then
they are sent for slaughter.
Thegrowthoflargefeedlotshasbeenthedominanttrendin
thecattle industry. Of the 34 millioncattle slaughtered in
1987 in theU.S., 70 percent were sent for slaughterfrom
feedlots.Largefeedlotsarenowresponsibleforonethirdof
the nation’s beef. They are substantial commercial
undertakings,oftenfinancedbyoilcompaniesorWallStreet
moneylooking fortaxconcessions. Feedlots areprofitable
because cattle fatten more quickly on