NCBA 2012 - Should Your Feedyard be Covered by the Beef Hoop System

[ag-boy]

Yes SHANEY VERY NICE VIDIO
This Hoop system is not new !
Touring Holland we saw many of them build some what like this .
Many ONE man operation and feed 1500 to 1800 head ,dairy type cattle to finish 550 kg , over this weight not wanted and discounted [ this we need to do here!]
Cattle lookt very clean youth full
yield 62 % or better .
Fed 70 to 80 % cornsilage, balans plant byproducts .
never saw one steer there ! hormones are left in .
Virgin -bulls feeding , so better gains
no implant of course !!!!
some what higher cost barns ! use of slatted floor , think off last year wet spring. Cattle 2 feet deep im mod
Packers complain of stinking Beef
We noticed Beef served in EU, smaller portion and youthfull flavour tasted
better than here !!!! we can learn from them ,
this is our lessons we learned , so covered system have is place and are here to stay

[grassfarmer]

Don't necessarily agree with that ag-boy. If the cattle
are standing over slats they'll get quite a "smell" taste
about them as well. The constant ingestion of
ammonia fumes is what pollutes hog barn pork and I
can't see it will be much different with beef. Can't
beat the clean taste of cattle that are fattened on
grass - as nature intended!
In my experience, on average the beef in the EU is of
a poorer standard than north America. The feedlot
system provides a more standardized product
whereas in many areas of Europe they slaughter 11
month grain fed bulls, 26 month grass fed heifers
and 20 month silage/grain fed steers and expect to
get some consistency of product. There are always
exceptions of course - some great beef in the EU and
in Canada.

[Kathy]

Studies have shown the inhalation of sulfur from the manure can cause imbalances in the brain which can lead to symptoms similar to polio-encephalomalatia or PEM. Since PEM has clinical/pathological similarities to BSE ie: spongiform of the brain, I don't think we want our cattle to be in the position of inhaling to much sulfur or other contaminants.

These large confined feeding operations like one dairy I know of in Wisconsin, must run many large fans to clear the air. This particular barn has co-generation of electricity with their manure... so power cost is not an issue. (except the initial cost of setting up the cogen facility - which a power company contributed)

Sunshine kills bugs, and provides vitamin D and other benefits.

[kato]

Ever notice that if you toss a pork chop on a frying pan without any seasonings on it, you smell a pig barn?

There's a reason for that. Those pigs spend their lives suspended over a liquid manure pit, and I'm pretty sure there's no ventilation in the world good enough to clear that out 100%.

If you had one of these tunnels, and it was open and the cattle had the option of going in or not, as they pleased, that would be better than putting them into the kind of confinement system that pigs live in, with no opportunity to get out and move on real solid ground.

[grassfarmer]

Not just the smell kato, it's the taste of the hog
barn through and through. Since we started
retailing pasture pork the demand has been huge -
people can't believe that pork doesn't have to taste
like s@#$. Despite the low price of pork in the
stores it's actually easier to built a market for
premium quality/priced pork than it is for beef.

[ag-boy]

Yes I said same thing years ago
grassfarmer!
After visiting all these Beef hoop Systems in EU all of us said it has it place in this part of the world
Have you ever drove through South Alberta feedlot alley called Picture-Butte!! one thing good about lot off times it is windy there, as we all know.
Studies came in from similar type of shelters in Germany very low odour and sulfer and NH3 inhaling in confined feeding . again a lesson we learn with the new modern set ups under cover!!!

Not to say our grassfed is possible to come and more natural inviroment. but on limited scale and high cost to consumer.
Controled Organic beef is me be here to come as long Government hires more inspectors and strict laws in place ,
of course the house wife has pay for all exstra cost to get it there
so reading all these nice coments on AGIVILLE keeps me very update .
Getting to be a old age retired feedlot operator and getting better learning from these reading
I do enjoy it !!!!