Beef cattle factfile

Beef breeds of cattle used for meat production include early-maturing British breeds such as the Aberdeen Angus and the Hereford, and later-maturing continental breeds such as the Limousin and the Charolais.

Cattle are grazing animals (i.e. they eat grasses and other low-down vegetation) that ruminate (chew the cud). They spend most of the day (up to 9 hours) grazing, and long periods resting and ruminating.

Cattle are social animals and in some situations can find isolation from other cattle stressful. They form strong social hierarchies (‘pecking orders’) within their herds.

Being prey animals, cattle usually keep a safe ’flight distance’ between themselves and anything they think could be a threat. They have good eyesight, with a wide field of vision, accurate hearing and a strong sense of smell with which to detect possible predators. Because they are prey animals, they have evolved to not show easily recognisable signs of suffering. For example, sick or injured cattle may not vocalise loudly because, in the wild, this could attract the attention of a predator. This lack of expression means that people sometimes don’t notice subtle changes in behaviour that may indicate cattle are in pain or distress.