Beef cattle - farming

Beef cattle are usually kept in one of two systems. On more ‘extensive’ grazing-based farms, animals are mainly kept in fields and may be housed for part of the year. It is these grazing systems that have helped to shape the landscape in many parts of the UK. Beef cattle can also be kept in more ‘intensive’ indoor systems where, in some cases, they may be housed throughout their lives.There are three main methods beef production:

Suckled calf production
This is where calves are reared by their mothers until they are weaned at around six to eight months of age and then fattened ready for slaughter elsewhere.

Finishing systems
These are where animals are fed a diet to get them ready for slaughter.

Store production
Where young animals are grown quite slowly using relatively inexpensive home-grown crops. 

The pure beef breeds of cattle that are used 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. Young bulls, steers (castrated bulls) and heifers (young females) can all be used, and are slaughtered at different ages and weights depending what the buyers want. Other animals that are used for beef production include dairy cattle under 30 months of age and some dairy calves.

Traditionally, the beef and dairy industries have been linked, with unwanted calves from the dairy industry bought by beef farmers to be reared for beef. However over the years this situation has changed, mainly because dairy calves have not been considered to be of good enough quality to be reared for beef. This has resulted in many of them being killed on farm or exported to the continent for further fattening as veal, often in systems that would not be legal in the UK. This live export of calves has now been suspended after some of the exported calves tested positive for bovine tuberculosis.

The number of beef cattle in the UK has fallen by around 9 per cent over the last 10 years to around 1.7 million. One reason for this fall in numbers is because farmers have received a lower price for their animals, largely due to competition from imported beef.