BEEF
PROTEIN Muscle Strength
VITAMIN B12 Brain Function , Energy
ZINC Immune System
IRON Oxygen Transfer
+ Other Micronutrients
The Ultimate Efficient Recyler
OTHER PRODUCTS
LEATHER
PHARMACEUTICALS
PET FOOD
COSMETICS
Humans need a balanced diet to be healthy . So do animals . Cattle need the right mix of protein , carbohydrates , fat , minerals , vitamins , and water . This balanced mix helps cattle thrive and grow .
When cattle are in a feedyard , they are fed a ration . A ration is a mixture of different feeds . Farmers and ranchers work with animal nutritionists to create the ration . Rations are made up of hay and forage crops . High energy feeds , such as corn , are added . The ration changes as the animal grows . The goal is for cattle to convert feed into lean muscle .
Livestock , especially ruminants like beef cattle , play a key role in a sustainable food system . A ruminant is an animal with four
4 - Colorado Agriculture in the Classroom compartments in its stomach . These four compartments give cattle the ability to consume and gain nutritional value from feeds that other animals or humans cannot consume .
Ranchers are able to use food waste - including corn stalks , leftover grains from biofuel production , and unattractive or unused fruits and vegetables - to meet the nutritional needs of their animals . This is called upcycling . Upcycling is the process of turning materials that would otherwise be discarded into a product of higher value . To upcycle is similar to the concept of “ reduce , reuse , and recycle .”
In a beef animal ’ s diet , 90 percent of the feed used by grain-fed cattle are inedible to humans and some other animals . Cattle upcycle these low-quality , human-inedible feeds that might otherwise go to a landfill by converting them into a high-quality , high-protein product in the form of beef and other products we use in our daily lives .
Of the animal ’ s live weight , 42 percent is edible beef and 44 percent is used to make numerous other products . Beef provides our bodies with essential micronutrients like protein for muscle strength , vitamin B12 for brain function and energy , zinc for a strong immune system , and iron to carry oxygen to all parts of the body .
Beef byproducts are components of many other products that might not be quite so obvious . Leather , pharmaceuticals , cosmetics , and pet food are all valuable cattle byproducts .
Source : BeefResearch . org