With nine
yards in Texas and Kansas, Cactus Feeders is the largest cattle
feeding operation around with a one-time capacity of 520,000 head.
Both large and small feedyards have their advantages.
One of the many reasons the Texas Panhandle is "cattle feeding
country" is because of the abundance of locally grown grain like
this healthy-looking cornfield. A relatively mild climate is another
reason feedyards proliferated in the region, as well as close
proximity to all major packers.
The site
of our tour is Cactus Feedyard, located, appropriately, in Cactus,
Texas. It has a 75,000-head capacity with 90 percent of the cattle
being customer-owned (vs. company owned).
