SIC 0211 Beef Cattle Feedlots

Encyclopedia of American Industries | 2005 | Copyright

SIC 0211
BEEF CATTLE FEEDLOTS

This classification covers establishments primarily engaged in the fattening of beef cattle in a confined area for a period of at least 30 days, on their own account or on a contract or fee basis. Feedlot operations that are an integral part of the breeding, raising, or grazing of beef cattle are classified in SIC 0212: Beef Cattle, Except Feedlots. Establishments that feed beef cattle for less than 30 days, generally in connection with their transport, are classified in SIC 4789: Transportation Services, Not Elsewhere Classified.

NAICS Code(s)

112112 (Cattle Feedlots)

Industry Snapshot

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, at the beginning of April 2003, cattle and calves for slaughter on feedlots with a capacity of 1,000 or more head totaled 10.7 million. This represents an 8 percent and 7 percent decrease from the same time period in 2002 and 2001, respectively. Of the total feedlot inventory, steer and steer calves accounted for 63 percent, or 6.72 million. Heifers and heifer calves totaled 3.92 million. Three states dominated cattle feedlot production: Texas had 2.7 million beef cattle on feedlots; Kansas, 2.3 million; and Nebraska, 2.2 million. Combined, these three states accounted for two-thirds of all beef cattle feedlot production.

The total number of beef cows in the United States in April 2003 was 33 million. One-third of the nation's beef cattle (10.7 million) is produced on large feedlots. The remainder are either grazed or raised on smaller feedlots with capacity under 1,000 head. The average price per 100 pounds in 2000 was $69.52 for steers (heifer prices vary slightly). The price per hundred weight in March 2003 averaged $72.70. Prices during the 1990s ranged from a decade high of $76.23 in 1993 to a decade low of $70.06 in 1998.

The early 2000s continued the trend toward larger feedlot operations. However, the industry exists under a cloud of environmental suspicion regarding the damage caused by waste runoff, as well as the effect of growth hormones injected into cattle to promote quick weight gain.

Organization and Structure

The feeding of grain to cattle is unique to the United States. Americans and an increasing number of international consumers have developed a taste for American grain-fed beef, as opposed to beef cattle fattened on grass only. The cattle that are fed in U.S. feedlots are young steers and heifers that have been weaned from their mothers, perhaps run on grass for another season or two, and then placed in the feedlot for further finishing. Typically this finishing period lasts between 110 and 150 days, during which the cattle may grow from 800 pounds to 1,250 pounds by eating a ration containing grain, byproducts, and hay that gives American beef its unique taste known throughout the world.

Prior to the 1970s, farmer feeders would send their "fat" cattle to an auction or terminal market, and packers would have representatives there to buy them. But by 1993 less than 7.6 percent of fed cattle were purchased by packers through public auctions. Instead, packers staffed their own buyers, who visited the huge feedlots and perused the "show lists," which are pens containing cattle being sold that week. After settling on a price for particular cattle, buyers then purchased the cattle directly from the feeder.

Because ranchers have been increasing their investment in genetic technology, a growing number of them have been retaining ownership of their cattle from...

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