Mmmm - interesting! I hadn't really thought about the corn situation before. On our farm, we don't feed any grain - the animals have to survive on fresh grass when available and hay and silage made on the farm in spring, during the summer-autumn feed gap.

In Australia, beef is labelled as 'grain-fed'. Unfortunately, a high percentage of that grain fed beef has also been produced using HGP's (hormone growth promotants).

Many of the British breed animals (e.g. Angus, Murray Grey) produce large amounts of fat naturally. When fed in the feedlots, they tend to get too fatty for the carcase specifications required. HGP's enable the animals to finish while meeting weight specifications with lower amounts of fat.

European breeds (including Limousin, Charolais and Simmental) produce leaner beef naturally. You'd think this would be a good thing, but we quite often get docked at the abattoir for the carcases having only 1-2 mm of fat, instead of the desired 5-9 mm.

Feedlots are not interested in our breed - partly because of a perceived problem with temperament (perhaps affecting meat quality at slaughter), but mostly because they take too long to finish to the right fat specifications. By the time they do meet fat specifications, the carcases are too big to meet weight specifications.

I personally can't see what difference having a slightly larger carcase should make, but most feedlots supply very specific export orders.

There is a groundswell of unrest about the use of HGP's here now. One of our leading nutritionists (Rosemary Stanton) made a statement this week about labelling of beef - she wants it either to be labelled as HGP-free or as having HGP. The Meat & Livestock Association (MLA) is up in arms at this - maintaining that there is no harm in the use of HGP treatment. I know what I'd rather eat...and I suspect most other consumers would prefer to eat hormone free if they could - look at the poultry industry.

Here's some info. from the Australian lotfeeders association abou what is fed to Australian cattle...

Feedstuffs

Nutrition consultants design and prepare feed rations for feedlot animals.

Many factors affect the average daily consumption of feed, including the animals’ liveweight, body condition and health. A healthy animal will eat more than an unhealthy one; heavier animals eat more than lighter ones. Ration content is a factor as well - feed palatability, dry matter content, and metabolisable energy (ME) content.

Cereal Grains are rich in starch and highly digestible, and provide energy and protein. Composition is analysed to allow for seasonal and crop variations of nutritional content. Cereal grains used include barley, maize, oats, sorghum and wheat.

Grain legumes are high in energy, fibre and protein but relatively low in starch. These include field peas, lupins and faba beans.

By-products of other agricultural industries are also widely utilised as supplements to the base diet and are used to increase palatability and nutrient content. They include molasses, citrus pulp, rice hulls, grape marc, sunflower meal, cottonseed and cottonseed meal.

Feedlot rations are not generally grown on-site so they must be analysed for chemical residue content. A Commodity Vendor Declaration (CVD) form is used to ensure produce is reliable and safe.