DID YOU KNOW.......???
Farm facts:
Nearly 90 percent of U.S. cattle farms and ranches are family-owned and operated. Approximately two-thirds have been under the same family ownership for two generations or more.
Grazing animals on land not suitable for producing crops more than doubles the land area that can be used to produce food.
In fact, 85 percent of the land where cattle graze is not suitable for raising crops, thus grazing animals on this land increases the amount of food produced for people here in the U.S. as well as abroad.
If 1955 technology were used to produce the amount of beef raised today, 165 million more acres of land would be needed – that’s about the size of Texas!
Cattle serve a valuable role in the ecosystem by converting plants humans cannot consume into a nutrient-dense food. Iron deficiency is the most common nutritional deficiency worldwide. Beef provides the most readily available and easily absorbed source of iron. In fact, just one 3-ounce serving of beef supplies 51 percent of the Daily Value (DV) for protein, 38 percent of the DV for zinc and 14 percent of the DV for iron.
Cattle ranches support a lot more than just cattle. The same land that provides food and open space for raising cattle also offers a home for many types of wildlife, including threatened and endangered species of fish, mammals, birds and plants. Farmers and ranchers help wildlife by providing feed, delaying hay harvest until after nesting season and maintaining or restoring native plants and grasses.
Beef producers and cattle ranching families are serious about caring for the land, which sustains them and their families. They work hard to protect the land as well as their livestock. For America’s cattle farmers and ranchers, the land is not just where they raise cattle; it’s also where they raise their families. They have a personal stake in the quality of their environment – so they are always looking for new ways to improve the air, water and land on and near their property.
Water is a source of life for everyone on the farm, including the cattle, the wildlife and the families that raise and protect them. Water, whether drinking water for people, cattle and wildlife or irrigation water for crops, is essential for maintaining farm life. Beef producers’ everyday water conservation efforts include conducting water quality tests, fencing off streams to protect the fish and waterways and creating man-made irrigation ponds.
