Feedlot

Common card · No. 457403

A feedlot or feed yard is a type of animal feeding operation (AFO) which is used in intensive animal farming, notably beef cattle, but also swine, horses, sheep, turkeys, chickens or ducks, prior to slaughter. Large beef feedlots are called concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFO) in the United States and intensive livestock operations (ILOs) or confined feeding operations (CFO) in Canada. They may contain thousands of animals in an array of pens, and as of 2016, have been used to fatten over 75% of American steers and heifers used for beef. The basic purpose of the feedlot is to increase the amount of fat gained by each animal as quickly as possible; if animals are kept in confined quarters rather than being allowed to range freely over grassland, they will gain weight more quickly and efficiently with the economies of scale. Feedlots require some type of governmental approval to operate, which generally consists of an agricultural site permit. Feedlots also would have an environmental...

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