>
> <http://beef.unl.edu/FAQ/200307250.shtml>
>
Old statistic.
Also, one other factor which makes some of those numbers a little
misleading. "Raised" and "Finished" are two different things. A lot of
cattle are moved from one state to another for finishing. The feed lots in
some of these states are immense with tens of thousands of cattle on site at
any given time. In Iowa, there are very very few feed lots and the largest
ones top out at maybe 2000 head.
The most important factor in play is that Iowa soil is mostly too valuable
to run cattle on and if it is being run on it, it's usually on off-years
when the farmers are attempting to rest the soil. Do the numbers--when your
top-grade soil is producing on average 200-240 bushel of corn an acre (with
some fields pushing 300+), why would anybody in their right mind run cattle
on it instead?
But Iowa's corn-fed beef is world-known. It really is different and doesn't
have than venison taste to it that shrub-fed Texas beef is known for. There
is a reason why Texas beef has to be BBQ'd.
;)
AG
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