The number of cattle feedlots with more than 50,000 head has nearly doubled over the past 30 years as large feedlots handle an increasing share of cows across the country.
In 1992, 39 feedlots had a capacity of at least 50,000 head annually and handled 16.8% of the nation’s cattle inventory, according to historic USDA records.
Last year, there were 76 feedlots with capacities of at least 50,000 and those operations handled 33.5% of all cattle.
Feedlots fatten up cattle in the final stage of production before harvest and this year account for about 19.6% of total cattle inventories, according to Derrell Peel, an agriculture professor at Oklahoma State University.
“The feedlot inventory as a percent of the total inventory of cattle in the country has continued to increase over time,” Peel wrote in a report about the most recent feedlot figures.
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